


The Cards We're Dealt

by simonsrosebud



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Exy (All For The Game), Bisexual, Bisexual Disaster Kevin Day, Bisexual Kevin Day, Canon Gay Relationship, College, Dalton Miller, Exy, Exy (All For The Game), Gay Male Character, Happy Kevin, Kevin Day x Dalton Miller, M/M, MY BABIES, Major Original Character(s), OC: Dalton Miller - Freeform, Original Character(s), Originally Posted on Tumblr, PTSD, Palmetto State University, Palmetto State University Foxes, Panic Attacks, TW: Panic Attacks, TW: mentions of past alcohol abuse, The King's Men, The Raven King - Freeform, i love them, kevin day - Freeform, kevin obvi has ptsd, not much angst, post college foxes eventually, the foxhole court - Freeform, the one where someone doesn't know who kevin day is, tw: mentions of past abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 36,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28563795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simonsrosebud/pseuds/simonsrosebud
Summary: Based off of my tumblr au, "the one where someone doesn't know who kevin day is"Kevin's life is in shambles.  He's almost failing math three weeks into the semester, the freshman are stubborn brats that won't listen to him or Neil yet, Andrew keeps locking him out of the suite, and he doesn't even know where to start with the attractive guy he met on campus.  For so long it's been Exy and school, even after coming to Palmetto.  Adding boys to the plate isn't what he expected to worry about- especially ones with muddy brown eyes and winsome smiles.
Relationships: Katelyn/Aaron Minyard, Kevin Day/Dalton Miller, Kevin Day/Original Character(s), Matt Boyd/Danielle "Dan" Wilds, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 38
Kudos: 188





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> rating "teen and up" because of profanity and just the way we know the foxes to act. i will tag any possible triggers i can think of per chapter, but don't be afraid to ask me to add anything i miss.

Kevin hates math.

He _hates_ math, he doesn’t get it, and he’s _going to drop out_ if it gets any worse, really. He’s studying _history._ He'll be playing Exy until he can’t walk anymore. He doesn’t _need_ math.

Neil needs math, it’s part of his major. But Neil also has no patience for teaching others anything but exy, and they’ve got into one too many shouting matches over it for him to ask for help again. Kevin refuses.

Which is why he’s currently sitting with nearly one hundred problems due tomorrow morning and a headache near approaching. All because he procrastinated his weeks worth of homework until now.

He just doesn’t _understand_.

He’s chosen to work at Starbucks because of Betsy. He’s been seeing her on a regular schedule, at this point, and she’d been encouraging him since he first got to Palmetto to find a new place to study and get out. He can’t say he loves it, but the background noise is grounding. That, and he knows she was right. She’s always heavily recommended that he get out of the routine of sticking to the dorms and the stadium, and to break any habits that he could recall originating from the nest. That he’s putting himself in unnecessary isolation. That he won’t get punished for doing his own things anymore.

Plus, he made the mistake of telling Andrew what she said, and ever since he’s started locking him out a few times a week for one hour. He doesn’t really have a choice.

Kevin looks down at his work.

His second coffee is long gone, he’s just been biting the straw until his teeth ache. It isn’t until he rakes his fingers through his hair for the tenth time that he gets a change of scenery.

An incredibly attractive one.

Kevin knows that he’s bisexual. But there’s still a difference, for him, between knowing it in his head and actually acting on it. This guy makes him want to act on it- and he _would_ … if he didn’t feel so scared. He’s only ever _been_ with Thea, and only ever made out with girls. Guys are a whole new territory, and he doesn’t quite know anyone that he can base the way they’d act off of. The most normal guy he knows is _Matt_.

Which... no.

It’s particularly crowded, today, which means it’s absolutely normal for someone to sit across from him. It doesn’t stop Kevin from sinking in his seat, though. Not that it makes a difference. The guy doesn’t even pay him any mind, and Kevin can’t really decide if he’s grateful or bummed about it.

An hour later, Kevin considers going up for a drink. He tilts his head and stares at the barista stand for a moment.

His phone rings.

A third cup is a bad idea, anyway.

“Hello?”

“Where are you?”

Neil.

“Starbucks. What do you want?”

“Nicky needs to know if you’re coming back for dinner, we’re ordering food.” Kevin throws his head back and tells him he’s not. “What about practice tonight?”

“We’re not going.”

“ _I’m_ going, and I’m bringing Charlie. You should be coming, Kevin. Do your homework in the morning.”

Charlie’s a new freshman striker sub, and while he needs work, it’s not to the point of Kevin starting midnight practices up again. Wymack won’t let them, but more importantly Andrew hasn’t been letting them. If Andrew’s letting Neil go tonight, then maybe Charlie needs more work than Kevin thought.

No.

“We agreed on no night practices. If I find out tomorrow that you went, I’m benching you. Give Charlie a run at his first game, how’d you feel about that?”

“Unfazed. You don’t have the power to bench your Vice Captain, Kevin.”

“God _fucking_ help me, Neil, then run yourself weak and see how it works out in the morning. If you’re going to be captain next year then you need to learn when to hold back and not wear yourself thin.” It feels like advice that he should have told himself last year. He never would have taken it. “I have way too much homework to babysit you.” He hangs up before Neil has the chance to respond and shoves his phone into his pocket. His textbook is practically taunting him from where it sits open, equations almost giving him the middle finger. “I hate you,” Kevin whispers.

After a moment, the guy across from him pauses and looks up at Kevin. “Hey, uh…” Kevin almost forgot he was there. _Who is he kidding, no he didn’t._ “I don’t mean to intrude, but I could help you if you want? I was a math major.” He shrugs and the corner of his lips quirks up a bit.

Kevin blinks a few times, and glances down at his work. _Was_ a math major. How old is he, then? “Thanks, but no thanks.” He’s in a mood, now, no matter how much Kevin is crushing on him.

The stranger takes it with ease and plugs his earbuds back in, as if the conversation never happened. Kevin knows he should take it back, beg him for help so he’s not up all night with his work, but he doesn’t _work_ like that. He’s already said no.

He lets it go and muddles through best he can. It only takes him an hour to regret the whole exchange, but the stranger is talking amicably to someone at his side. He tries not to huff. He tugs on the strings of his hoodie, and when the stranger turns back he looks down. _Coward._

It feels like forever, and even might be, before he swallows his pride and bites his lip. His knee is bouncing a mile a minute. “Hey…”

He doesn’t respond. Kevin curses under his breath. _Earbuds_.

He’s fiddling with his pen, and his eyes catch on the guy’s drink. He doesn’t have to crane his neck to read the name. Kevin bites the inside of his cheek. “Dalton?” He speaks louder, and he looks up. When it registers that it’s Kevin who said his name, he smiles. _Smiles._ After doing _hours_ of work. “Is it too late to take your offer?”

Dalton’s face lights up. Kevin gets nervous. “Of course not!” He shuts his laptop and notebook and packs it away. Kevin slides his textbook over when Dalton takes the chair at his side.

“Okay,” Dalton mumbles as he takes a look at the work. “Oh, is this-” he flips the textbook to see the cover. “This is actually a course I teach here.”

Kevin frowns. _How old do you have to be to be a professor?_ Does this mean he’s got no shot with him? If he’s a professor? _He’s_ not in Dalton’s class.

He also has to mentally talk himself down because this means he’s definitely aware that Kevin’s in a class primarily full of freshmen or sophomores getting the class over with as a gen-ed. If asked, he’ll blame it on the way his credits transferred from Edgar Allen.

The work doesn’t get any easier, but Dalton is patient with him, and it becomes very clear as to why he teaches math. It’s nothing like the way Neil explains things to him.

Kevin gets down to ten questions with Dalton’s help by the time he has to leave. He pushes his chair out, and when Dalton stands he’s got a good three inches on Kevin. He stares a second too long at it. He isn’t sure _why_ he cares, Matt’s taller than him and he’s never given _that_ a second thought.

Dalton follows him out, “Hey, I never got your name, by the way.”

Kevin turns. His first instinct is to roll his eyes or raise a brow in question, to say “ _very funny"_. But he doesn’t. It’s something about the way he says it, and maybe because Kevin has a fat crush on him right now. Either way it feels like a slap in the face because _is he not kidding?_ “Kevin. I’m Kevin.”

Dalton nods. “Dalton. Look, I’ve got to get back to my dog, but…” He pauses. “Well, I can- can I give you my number?”

Kevin frowns. “For math?” He doesn’t think he’ll use it. He barely had the courage to ask for help the first time.

Dalton’s face flushes. “Yeah, I mean, or if you ever wanted to hang out or something, I’d like that, too.”

If he ever wants to _hang out_. Disappointing, really.

“Oh, sure.” He lets Dalton enter his number into Kevin’s contacts, and when he hands it back he shoots Kevin another million watt smile. Charming, inviting, happy. Like the one he uses when there’s a camera in front of his face, but Dalton’s is _real._ He has no idea how he does it.

Looking at the new contact as he walks to Fox Tower makes him feel bad. As much as he wants to put it to use, he also _knows_ he won’t use it. How is he supposed to just ask him to hang out? And when? Where? Is that even what he’s supposed to do? Did he even mean it in a way that’s past just friendship like Kevin’s envisioning? Doesn’t he _know_ that Kevin lacks basic social cues when it comes to asking someone out? Did he even _mean_ to ask him out? He said _hang_ out. That’s what Matt says to Neil when he wants him to watch _football_.

If Nicky were here he’d know how to handle it. He says he has a “detector” for these kinds of things, about if someone’s gay or not. He has a name for whatever chaos is going on in Kevin’s head right now, too. Something stupid, like gay anxiety.

No.

Gay _panic._

On the other end of the spectrum, Dalton _doesn’t_ know that Kevin lacks flirting cues. He punches the air in victory once he slides into his car. He just _gave a guy his number_. He doesn’t really just _do_ that, hit on random guys he meets.

He calls his best friend, Jenna. “Guess what I did?”

“Can we make it quick? I’ve got The Bachelorette on in five minutes- hey, are you coming out on Friday?”

“Depends on if this guy I met calls me.”

“ _Who?!_ ”

Dalton grins to himself. “I met a guy doing work at Starbucks. I helped him with some math, and before we left I asked if I could give him my number and he took it.”

“No, Miller! You’ve gotta ask him for _his_ number! What if he never texts you? You have no way of asking him out cause then you’ll never see him again.”

She’s probably right, but he shrugs anyway. “But the _point_ is that I gave a really hot guy my number, and I think he seemed interested, so I’ll let you know if he texts me.”

Kevin doesn’t text him. Not until Neil is trying to explain math to him a few days later and they get into a screaming match, as per usual. Neil snatches his phone at one point, and locks himself in the bathroom. When he comes out, he tosses the phone at Kevin.

_**To Dalton Miller** _

_**it’s kevin, can u help me with math?** _

“I’m going to kill fucking kill you.”

“Why, he’s your _tutor_ , is he not?”

And a moment later:

**_Dalton Miller: sure! call me?_ **

Kevin huffs. He looks at Neil across the room. “Fuck you. Get out.”

“Why? I was in here first.” He gets cut off by Andrew dragging him out by the collar.

Kevin looks down at his phone. _Facetime? He might have to see the problems to help._

Dalton picks up after the first ring. He’s wearing glasses. _He looks really good._

* * *

As much as Kevin likes Dalton, he doesn’t call him again after that. It’s not that he doesn’t like him, but the problem lies in the fact that he likes him a _lot_ and making a move isn’t something he’s too nervous to do. It’s sad, he accepts that he doesn’t plan on hearing from him again- until the next day when, just his luck, Dalton joins him in line at Starbucks. “How’s math going?”

Kevin jumps and turns. _Oh_. “Will you be disappointed if I told you I’m dropping the class?” He doesn’t mean for it to be funny, but Dalton laughs anyway. The corner of his eyes crinkle and Kevin’s chest tightens.

“Since I could tell how much you hated it, I’ll go with no.” Kevin’s next in line, and he freezes when Dalton beats him to handing his card over.

“Dalton.” He doesn’t need charity. He _knows_ it’s a chivalry thing, and not a money thing but _really_ , he’s got more money than he knows what to do with.

“Kevin?” But he also doesn’t want to be rude. He’s been trying to work at it. Dalton grins and they step to the side to wait for their orders.

Kevin steps to the side to wait for his order. He has his eyes glued to the barista station. It’s easier to look at while he works up the courage for Dalton to join him again and- “I have a crush on you- _fuck_ ,” he curses under his breath and stops Dalton in his tracks all at once. That is _so_ not what he meant to say. What is he, twelve? He runs a hand over his face. “Um, look, I think you’re good looking, and I….” He grimaces. “But if you’re not into that then I’m just going to cut this whole thing off because I'm humiliating myself,” his voice trails off. “Yeah.” He grabs his drink and glances at Dalton. And he's... well... 

Dalton’s smiling- no, grinning, and drags his thumb across his bottom lip to try and make it disappear. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but the whole reason I gave you my number was cause I thought you were fine as hell, Kevin.” He stuffs his hands into his pockets. Kevin needs to learn to trust his instincts. “Did I not flirt enough on the phone?” He’s joking, and Kevin knows it, but he still feels like an idiot. Looking back on the conversation, it’s so _obvious._

He needs to open his eyes. A lot.

He goes to say something, _anything_ , but it takes him a moment. In the end he just laughs a little and scratches the back of his head. “That’s, no, that definitely makes sense.”

Dalton smirks. “Can I take you out sometime?”

Oh- oh, god. Kevin nods. What else is he supposed to do?

“How’s today at-” he checks his phone, “two-seventeen?” 

“That’s-That's right now.”

“It is. Wanna sit?” Dalton nods towards a table. Kevin’s weak in the knees when Dalton speaks to him, but he almost declines. They have workouts in an hour and a half, and he has some homework he normally gets ahead on. But he can hear Betsy in his head going _"you're allowed to spend your time on other things, Kevin"_ and he _knows_ that he needs to start including other things in his life. Other _people_.

Plus, he also just told Dalton that he has a crush on him, for Christ sake, he can’t really say _no_.

Kevin falters a tiny bit when Dalton pulls out the chair for him. He’s never had someone do that before, he just assumed he was taking the seat himself.

So they sit for a bit, and he gets quite a few questions answered without having to ask. He learns that Dalton is twenty-four, three years older than himself, and that he’s a third year grad student living just a few minutes off campus. That he got his bachelors and now his masters in mathematics, _yuck_ , and that he’s currently an instructor for two gen-ed level math courses. That he wants to become a teacher or professor upon graduation.

Kevin doesn’t know how to talk about himself like that. About things that aren’t exy, but Dalton doesn’t know that side of him and he doesn’t want to give that up just yet. It’s easier to play pretend.

Instead, he tells him about his classes, and how in another life he’d probably be an archaeologist or history professor. That he doesn’t _really_ like Starbucks, but kind of needs the caffeine. That he wasn’t raised by his parents, and then panics for a second about why he’d lead with that until Dalton just nods and continues on.

Dalton drops Kevin off at Fox Tower when they leave, and gets out of the car to look over the top. “Kevin!” He turns. “Can I call you sometime soon?”

Kevin cocks his head. “I’d hope so.” And turns to go inside. _Smooth, Kevin._

* * *

Sometime soon ends up being Friday. It’s right after practice, Kevin takes the call just outside the stadium while he waits for Andrew and Neil. “Hi, I’m calling about a date with a tall dark haired guy? Is Kevin there, by any chance?”

Kevin bites his knuckle. He smiles and clears his throat. “Yes, this is him, how can he be of service?” _Is he doing this right?_

Dalton laughs into the speaker. “How are you?”

“I’m alright.”

“Yeah?” Kevin hums. “Are you doing anything today?”

 _Fuck_. He leans his head back against the cinderblock. “Not until later tonight. My teammates normally go to Columbia on weekends.” They actually haven’t gone in a while, what with Kevin not drinking and none of them doing cracker dust anymore, but Nicky and Aaron still like to go there and drink for free. And now that the whole team is back in town sometimes Matt and Dan like to go with them.

Maybe Kevin can get out of it?

Fuck it. “Do you want to come to my suite?”

In the Maserati after practice, Kevin speaks up before Neil can start yapping or Andrew can turn the music up enough to drown it out. He leans forward. “I’m having a friend over, I need you two to stick to the bedroom.” Neil has his elbow on the center console, holding up his head where he’s slumped, but still gives Kevin the middle finger. “Fuck off, I’m serious. Not everyone is psycho like you two.”

Neil shrugs. Kevin balls his fists and sits back. He wants to ask them again when they pull up, maybe go about it softer, but they skip right past the elevator and head for the stairwell. _Roof._

“Fuck, yes.” Kevin hurries to the room and changes. Then changes again. Then messes with his hair. He waits just outside the entrance to the building when Dalton says he’s pulling up.

Dalton hugs him. Kevin doesn’t… well, he wasn’t really expecting it, is all. He doesn’t hug many people in normal settings. Doing so after winning a game is different.

He overthinks a few things on their way up to their floor, and pauses with his key in the door. He’s been gone for a good ten minutes. That means if Andrew had come back during that time then all bets are off on getting the living room. “I have roommates, by the way. They said they’d be gone,” he lies, “but just in case. And I’m on the exy team. That’s why I have to live in the towers.” He looks at Dalton, leaning against the wall beside him. Cool and collected.

Dalton is anything but cool and collected. Kevin is intimidating and makes him more nervous than others that he’s dated. And he knows absolutely nothing about exy, which isn’t making him too confident at the moment. “I’m not gonna lie, I’ve never been to an exy game here, but I can definitely change that.”

Kevin fakes a laugh and lets him in. He can’t say he _wants_ him to come watch. Not yet, at least. Not that he’d be nervous, nothing so far has caused him to choke on the court and some boy isn’t going to change that. He just doesn’t really want Dalton on that side of his life, his fame. It’s easier to just be Kevin, rather than Kevin Day.

Andrew and Neil are still gone. Thank god.

Dalton makes a New Girl reference that goes right over Kevin’s head, prompting him to put that on the TV. It slides quietly into background noise, but neither of them mind.

Dalton moves from the middle of the sofa to sit right next to Kevin, and eventually he sits sideways. “Tell me something interesting about you,” he mumbles.

Oh. Kevin’s never really done flirty small talk. Not like this, anyhow. “Um… I’m mostly Irish, I was born there.”

Dalton’s eyes light up at that. Kevin has his hands in his lap, and Dalton absentmindedly plays with his one hand, his left. “Do you go there often?”

He shakes his head. “I haven’t been there since I was a baby, probably. My…” _Don’t._ “My mother was born and raised there, but I grew up here.” In West Virginia, but that’s not relevant yet.

Dalton smiles and tilts his head a little. “I think you’d do well with an Irish accent.” Kevin makes a face and he snorts and ducks his head. “Sorry, maybe not.”

Kevin panics. Change the subject. Compliment him. “I speak French?” He regrets it as soon as he says it because it is _so_ not what he wanted to say.

But it gets Dalton’s attention. “Really?!” He sits up straight and says a few things. _Hello, how are you? You are tall and nice._

Kevin waits for anything else, but Dalton shrugs and leans to the side against the sofa cushion. “That’s all I remember. I had to take a semester of a language in my undergrad before I changed my major.”

“I forgot you’re in your masters.”

Dalton shrugs. “Will you talk to me like one of your French gals?” Kevin _knows_ that’s from a movie, but he has yet to find out which one. It doesn’t matter, not right now. Not when Dalton’s eyes shine as Kevin speaks French to him, soft and slow.

Usually it’s fast and angry, and directed at Neil.

“You could be saying the worst things about me, and I wouldn’t care.” He huffs a laugh, then bites his lip for a second.

Kevin just, he just feels so _good_. He’s never felt like he’s had to try and hold in a smile so much before- and it’s a good thing. “I wouldn’t,” he says.

And they’re sitting _so_ _close_ , is the thing, that when Dalton asks, “can I kiss you?” Kevin barely has time to process it from the moment he nods to the moment he’s got another set of lips on his own. He slides his hand around the back of Kevin’s neck. He tries not to smile, but everything about it is good, and it was never _like_ this with Thea before. It’s different, for sure. For one thing, he doesn’t feel like he has to be the one in control. Dalton’s clearly got that part handled on his own. He shakes the thought away. The last thing he wants to think about right now is his ex.

Dalton is giddy when they stop, and Kevin wants to wipe away the look on his face and just go back to kissing him, but Dalton leans back first. “Really got me with that French,” he says.

Kevin rolls his eyes and pulls Dalton back by his collar.

* * *

Kevin has a game on Saturday, but he sees Dalton again on Monday as Kevin’s leaving class. “I’ve thought quite a bit about Friday,” Dalton says. “A lot, actually.” He nudges Kevin.

“Me too,” he says, quiet. “I had a good time, and,” he tries not to look to the side at Dalton, “I liked kissing you, a lot.”

Kevin isn’t a flirt, that much is true. It’s not hard for Dalton to notice, but he appreciates him trying.

Plus, it’s kind of cute, and he appreciates Kevin's effort, at least. It works.

Kevin’s hands are at his side, and when he gets the courage Dalton tries to slide his hand in one of Kevin’s. “Um.” Kevin pulls his hand free and slides it through his hair. He tries not to look around and see if anyone saw. “No one knows about this… Me being into guys, or about you.” He cringes.

That’s… not what he expected. Dalton digs his hands into his pockets. He feels awkward. He definitely made things awkward. “Oh, sorry.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t know.”

They keep walking, and Dalton takes a breath. “What does- Do you still wanna do this, then?” He cuts himself off before Kevin can answer.

“I _want_ to, I just…” He looks off for a second. “I’ve never been with a guy before. I don’t know if I’m ready to come out, yet, you might have to give me a little time.” He’s not sure how one is supposed to handle that.

But Dalton smiles. “I’m willing to work around that.” Kevin doesn’t register it as he follows Dalton into the bookstore, but he takes a big stride to fall back into step with him.

“Really?”

Dalton shoots him a look. “Yeah?” And then does a double take. “Why not?”

He doesn’t know. He just didn’t expect him to want to deal with Kevin hiding him. Normal people shouldn’t want to have to deal with that. _But this means he’s really into me, right?_

Kevin leads Dalton nonchalantly behind a shelf and kisses him. It’s a surprise, and his force almost causes Dalton to take a step back into the bookshelf. _Calm it down, Kevin._

Kevin does homework at his desk once he gets back to the suite, but it takes him longer than usual. He’s got something other than Global Studies on his mind.

Andrew stands in the doorway. Kevin’s right where he left him two hours ago.

He slams the door.

Kevin jumps. “Fuck is wrong with you today?”

“Get out. One hour.”

“Andrew, I have all my stuff laid out right here, I’m not moving it.” He turns back to the desk.

Andrew stalks over. He’s quiet on his feet, and if Kevin hadn’t suspected him he’d be scared half to death when Andrew shoves his things off of his desk. He lets his head fall onto the desk. “I hate you,” he whispers.

“Uh oh, it moved.”

Kevin storms out of the suite, and falters at the elevator. He makes a call as he steps inside.

"Hello?"

“What are you doing right now?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Andrew kicking Kevin out for an hour proves to have some pros, Dalton sticks around, and Allison knows more than she lets on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this isn't beta'd and quite frankly is un-edited, too, since it's 2 in the morning aha. but enjoy!! i suspect updates will be frequent while i'm on a roll, but will eventually slow to weekly updates which i'm going to really try and stick to

Kevin starts using the daily hour free time that Andrew forces upon him to hang out with Dalton. And over the course of the next month, Dalton’s apartment becomes a common meeting place. 

The only thing is that no one knows about it.

Kevin hasn’t told anyone who Dalton is, or that he even exists, really, and Andrew and Neil don’t care enough to gossip to the team even if they _have_ noticed. Neil has enough on his hands with being vice captain, and he’s probably just glad he has the suite to himself and Andrew every so often.

The first time Kevin stays overnight, though, he’s not a nervous wreck about it until the next morning.

He didn’t plan on staying over, and even though he hadn’t _really_ done anything with Dalton, he dreads the idea of going back to the tower in yesterday’s outfit. “My friends are gonna think I had a one night stand.” He stretches and curls back up into a ball.

“You move like a cat.” Dalton kicks his foot. “Just wear my clothes back.”

“They’ll know they’re someone else's. They’re unhealthily observant.” Dalton’s hand wanders to rest on Kevin’s waist. “Plus, you have the clothes of someone who has their life together.”

Dalton rolls his eyes. He climbs over Kevin to get out of the bed. Kevin grabs his phone and scrolls through his notifications, but he does a double take when Dalton shucks his sweatpants off. He tilts his head. “What is that?”

Dalton pulls a clean pair of briefs on and looks up as he grabs his shorts. “What’s what?”

Kevin gestures him closer, and tugs his waistband down a bit when he’s within reach. His jaw drops. Dalton sighs. “Oh my _god_ , Dalton.”

He waves a hand and pulls his shorts on. “It’s nothing.”

“ _Dalton-_ Dalton, you have a fox paw on your ass.” He ignores the incredulous look Kevin’s giving him.

He pulls a hoodie from his closet. “It’s on my _hip_.”

“Tattooed!”

“I lost a bet sophomore year- _you_ have a tattoo on your face!” He points an accusing finger.

Kevin’s laughing- laughing so hard that his eyes are squeezed shut. He hasn’t done that in so _long._ He falls onto his back for a second before sitting back up. “No. I’m not done. Let me see it again.”

Dalton tries squirming away when Kevin reaches for him, but then they get into a wrestling fight until Dalton pins him down. Kevin’s breathless as Dalton’s pressed against him. He reaches up to kiss him. “I wasn’t expecting that,” he whispers.

“What, me beating you?” Dalton noses along his neck.

Kevin tugs on his hair a little. “Your tramp stamp.”

Dalton scoffs and rolls his eyes. He gets up and leaves Kevin giggling to himself underneath the comforter. “It’s my hip, jackass!”

* * *

Kevin makes it back to the suite without being spotted in Dalton’s hoodie and sweats- subtly holding his dirty clothes to his chest. Granted, only to be right back where he was last night, kissing Dalton into the cushions of his apartment’s sofa.

Dalton just gets an ankle around the back of Kevin’s knee before interrupting. “Oh, hey, I’ll be at your game tomorrow- _hm_.” He slides a hand to the back of Kevin’s neck as Kevin kisses down his.

And Kevin…

Well, he’s got mixed feelings. On one hand, he likes that Dalton is willing to come see him do what he loves and all, that he’s clearly going just to support him. What he _doesn’t_ like, is that he was hoping to hold off on Dalton finding out about that side of his life. Just for a bit longer.

On top of that, the fact that he told him _now_. Because now he has to stop what he’s doing- which he _really_ likes, and explain. Explain that yeah, he’s not just some random college athlete and that he’s famous in the Exy world. That his mother is the creator of the sport. That he’s Kevin Day- and what that means. As much as he’d like to ignore it, fans go wild for him at games and Dalton’s not dumb enough not to notice. If he doesn’t say something now then it’s just going to nag in the back of his mind until after the game.

So, he sits back.

“Okay, uh, my mother was the co-creator of Exy, so I’m very well known in the sports world and fans sometimes tend to make a big deal of it at games. Especially with winning Championships last year.”

“That’s pretty cool. I’d lie and say I knew that, but you know the only sport I watch is football.”

Kevin doesn’t think he gets it. “That’s true- no, but, I’m gonna obviously give you my reserved friends and family seats, and I just need you to know about that so if people bug you about how or why you’re in Kevin Day’s seats you won’t be confused as to why they’re so pushy about how you know me.” He doesn’t really want to make it any more clear. He’s okay with downplaying his fame a bit. He can just blame it on the fact that Dalton isn’t invested in the sport in the way almost everyone else he knows. Or maybe because he actually likes Kevin for Kevin, and doesn’t care about his past and the weight his name carries.

“Hey, as someone who grew up going to Eagles games as a kid, I can handle some Carolina college kids.”

Eagles? As- is he really making a football reference right now? About the Philadelphia Eagles?

He guesses it’s a fair bet though. He’s heard stories about Philadelphia fans.

“You’re a college kid, D.”

Dalton smiles. He kisses away Kevin’s frown and climbs into his lap. “Don’t worry, hot shot, you’re still just a history nerd to me.”

Kevin slides a hand to the back of Dalton’s neck, but, “I thought you’re from Maryland?”

Shrug. “I am, but my Dad’s from Jersey. Diehard Philly fan.” Kevin hums. “Also, you called me D.”

Oh. Kevin doesn’t think he even noticed. “It just slipped, I guess, I don’t know. I won’t say it if you don’t want, I just-”

Dalton’s nodding and humming, but he cuts off Kevin’s stammering by lying back down and pulling Kevin with him. “I like it. Can I kiss you now?”

* * *

Kevin upgrades Dalton and his friend to his family seats as promised. But as Dalton leads them to the seats in the front row, Nate grabs his arm to stop him. “You have no idea where you’re going, what row are we supposed to be in?”

He… Okay, he probably should have warned Nate. But he’s just such a big fan of Exy that he thought it’d be a cool surprise. He didn’t think about the questions that would probably follow. “We’re in Kevin Day’s reserved seats.”

Nate scoffs. “You don’t even know who that is.”

“Yes, I do. He’s the guy I met at Starbucks that I’m friends with.” And oh baby are they a bit more than that, but he doesn’t know if he trusts Nate to know that just yet. Or at least not in this moment. Not with Kevin still closeted.

But Nate isn’t believing him and lets his head drop back. “Dude, come on, do you actually have seats or are we in the student section? I don’t wanna wait if we are, they fill up fast.”

It shouldn’t be surprising that he’s friends with a sports player. He knows Kevin said he’s very well known, but no one from Palmetto is famous in the way that Nate is acting like he is.

He pulls up a picture he took of Kevin in his apartment with Lily, Dalton’s dog lying on top of him on the carpet like a pillow. Nate grabs the phone as soon as it registers what he’s looking at, and then Dalton slides on to Snapchat and sends a quick picture of his face.

There’s still an hour until warm ups and game time, so Kevin answers quickly. A picture of his face back with the orange lockers behind him.

Nate grabs the phone back again and stares at it for a minute. It’s enough to get him to believe Dalton and follow him to their seats, but it still takes him a minute to get giddy over the fact that his friend is _actually_ friends with Kevin Day. “You don’t under _stand_ how awesome this is- dude, I’d do anything to be friends with him and you _really_ just met him at Starbucks? Is that really the real story?”

“I helped him with some math.” Dalton shrugs.

Kevin walks up to them just before warm ups. He can tell without asking that Dalton’s friend is a fan, or something of the sort. He’s kind of got wide eyes as he approaches but otherwise stays quiet.

Kevin leans over the railing to shake his hand. “Kevin.” His press face goes on for a moment as Nate introduces himself, and then he turns to hug Dalton. “If there weren’t fifteen thousand people watching,” he whispers. “I’d kiss you.”

Dalton’s grinning like a child, and gives a smug little shrug as Kevin backs away for laps in the outer court. “Later.” His friend is smacking his arm as Kevin jogs off.

They dominate Breckenridge, as they should, and Wymack nods to Kevin and Neil. “Press duty, you two.”

“ _Coach-_ ” Wymack cuts him off with a hand up and leaves the locker room. Press duty with Neil is more like an anxiety attack. You never know what he’ll say, now that he’s not afraid to use his mouth.

“Let’s go.” Kevin grabs Neil’s wrist and tugs him along. Neil snatches his arm away.

In French, Neil strikes up conversation going down the hall. “The guy in your family seats. That’s the math guy.”

“I’m allowed to have other friends.”

Neil is oblivious to relationships and attraction between other people, but Kevin would rather not take the chance of putting it in his head at all. “Andrew has some speculation,” Neil says and throws open the door to the press area before Kevin can come back.

He’s probably right, and Kevin spends all of press duty itching to catch Andrew and tell him not to tell anyone. As far as any of the foxes know, Kevin is straight. And single. For the sake of not having to deal with the questions and teasing, he’d rather keep it that way.

But Andrew’s the first one to speak in the car. “Invite your boyfriend to the after party?” Kevin freezes. “Fuck you for thinking I am an idiot.” Kevin can feel Neil’s eyes on him. _Thank god Nicky and Aaron rode with Matt._

Neil turns from the front seat. “You’re _dating_ the math guy?”

Kevin frowns. “You’re the one who said Andrew had speculations,” he accuses. “What did you _think_ they were about?”

Neil shrugs and faces forward again. He’ll never _not_ be oblivious. “I don’t know. Thought you really _did_ make a friend outside of Exy.”

Andrew pops Neil in the back of the head. “You are not one to talk, jock.” Neil sneers.

Kevin stays quiet. He should have known Andrew would figure it out, after all. He pulls out his phone. He has a missed text from Dalton.

_get u in 30? on our way back, u did AMAZING_

He knows.

* * *

Kevin doesn’t spend long at the tower with the Foxes and Vixens before Dalton picks him up. He kisses Kevin when he slides into the car. “Were you drinking? I don’t wanna do anything tonight if you were.”

Sober consent- and consent period, is a glorious golden rule to have. Kevin knows this, he isn’t stupid, but his mind still skips right over it and hooks onto the first part. He knows the stereotypes that come with being an alcoholic. Not that he likes to identify himself as one, because he _wasn’t._ He just… had some problems. He also won’t admit that maybe he’s biased on that opinion.

Still, it’s not a look he wants to portray. Not to anyone who doesn’t need to know, and _especially_ to the public.

He only speaks up once Dalton’s eyes are on the road and not him. “I’m four months sober, actually.”

Dalton’s got his hand on Kevin’s knee as he drives, and upon hearing that he squeezes it for a second. He shoots a smile his way. “That’s good, Kev, I’m proud of you for that.”

Kevin’s fists are balled in his lap. “You don’t have questions? About that?”

“Well, sure, a few come to mind, but none that I need answered.” He glances at Kevin, but he’s still looking straight ahead. “If you _want_ me to know, then I’m here, and I can ask questions.” Another squeeze. “But I don’t need to know.”

And that’s it. He doesn’t make him explain, or ask questions. He takes it at face and lets it go, and Kevin isn’t going to fight it but he also doesn’t understand _why_. It makes him want to bask in the feeling he gets from it. It’s a different kind of trust than he’s used to.

Kevin sends Andrew a heads up.

**_Kevin: i’m not coming back tonight._ **

He hesitates.

**_Kevin: don’t tell anyone about my friend, i’m not out yet._ **

_**Andrew: what makes u think i care ab ur love life enough to talk ab it. disgusting.** _

Coming from Andrew, that’s as good as an okay. Which is promising.

As soon as they get inside Dalton’s apartment he has his lips on him. “You looked really hot tonight,” he mumbles and lets Kevin walk him backwards towards his room. “Wish you still had your uniform on. So strong,” he squeals and laughs when Kevin picks him up.

“Stop talking, D.”

* * *

The fall banquet is in two weeks.

Kevin isn’t bringing a date. As in, Dalton.

He felt bad about it at first, but he explained his reasoning. “The foxes are known for being a mess, and they’re even worse in person. I’m not out anyway, yet, but I’m just not ready to introduce them to you yet. They’re assholes, to put it nicely.”

Dalton doesn’t mind. He’s been brought to his fair share of Jenna’s sorority date parties, missing an Exy banquet won’t bring his spirits down.

“Plus, it’s an overnight thing, and I know you’re in the middle of grading midterms.” Dalton groans. He’s only got a few classes, but this year's midterm tests have been awful so far.

He stretches and yawns. “Sounds good.” Kevin looks at him. “Seriously. It’s just a banquet, Kev. We can go to dinner without being watched by Exy teams whenever we want.”

Dalton still comes over when Kevin’s packing his overnight bag. His suit is dry cleaned and hanging on the back of the door.

Kevin takes his hoodie and shirt off. Dalton stares at his back muscles. “Yum.”

“What?” He turns.

“Double yum.” He smiles, and laughs when Kevin’s confusion turns to a deep blush in his face. “You’re just hot, is all.”

Kevin pulls a sweater over his head. It’s too big on him, and doesn’t quite go with his joggers, but he’s just going on an airplane. He comes and lays with his back to the wall and a leg thrown over Dalton’s and-

Wait.

“Is that mine?” Kevin has his hand up by his face and hidden in the cuffs of the sweater. “Why? This thing is so old.”

Kevin drops his head onto his pillow. “It smells like you.”

Oh, okay, and… 

_Oh_. Oh, yeah, Dalton is… definitely falling in love with this man.

In the airport, Kevin’s leaning against the wall nearby the team when Allison says, “Jesus, Kevin. Goodwill called and they want their top back. Where did you even get that thing?” He frowns.

It’s worn in, sure, and there’s a little hole in the cuff that he has a habit of sticking his thumb through sometimes, but it’s not _that_ bad. Maybe that’s why Dalton doesn’t really wear it. Or even noticed when Kevin swiped it from him. “I’ve had it.”

“Yeah, no. I’ve been through your closet before. That thing is new and I’m _not_ letting you wear it again- look at the hole!”

Kevin crosses his arms and tucks his hands in. “Shut up, I don’t care.”

Kevin doesn’t join the others in whoever’s room to drink. Instead, he makes it to his hotel room which he ironically got stuck sharing with Allison, and calls Dalton. It’s a nice quiet way to come down from the high of the banquet, busy and loud.

Dalton is telling him about how frustrated he is with the Fox football game that night. That _they’ve literally never played worse I don’t even know why we have a team_. Kevin hates football, but Dalton’s entertaining to listen to when he’s on a roll. He’s pinching his bottom lip absentmindedly when Allison walks in. He glances up, but tries to ignore her and schools his smile back to a neutral expression.

Well, he tries.

Allison’s not an idiot. Plus, the team has been making some bets on Kevin seeing someone lately, and another on who it is. From what he’s heard, none of them are succeeding in either.

She kicks her heels off, raises a brow Kevin’s way, and picks up his sweater from his bed. “This? Is going in the chute at the end of the hall.” She starts to walk backwards.

“No.” Kevin shoots off the bed and reaches for it. She zips around him instead. “Give it, Allison,” he grunts. Dalton pauses at the interruption.

She holds it with her two fingers like it’s trash. “Why, huh? It’s old, ugly, and makes you look like a bum. Pair it with jeans and a winter coat and maybe you can change my mind, but I’ve seen your winter wardrobe so I _know_ this wouldn’t go with any of it.” Kevin nearly chases her around the room. She jumps from Kevin’s bed to hers and turns to face him.

She’s holding his phone.

_How the fuck?_

The sweater drops to her feet. She smiles and holds the phone to her ear. “Hello, who is this?”

“Can I ask the same thing?”

Allison almost looks startled. “Oh! Oh, so you’re the friend Kevin’s always hanging out with, right?”

Dalton knows Kevin hasn’t told anyone, so the term friend doesn’t faze him. “That’s me.”

“And the old sweater he wears is yours?”

“Don’t judge.”

“Oh, trust me I’m not now that I know why he likes it so much.” And when she goes to say more Kevin buts back in.

“Enough, Allison!” This time she doesn’t run when he jumps to her bed and snatches the phone. He hangs up. He’ll call back later.

"I _knew_ it." She's smug, because she _knew_ the way Kevin didn't look at girls the way other guys did veered a bit suspicious. That and she never believed his relationship with Thea for a _second_. But Kevin's being sour, and Allison’s smile fades. She jumps off the bed. “You know, I used to wear Seth’s clothes when we’d be away from each other,” she says. “I take it this is the same situation?”

“I’m not answering that.”

“You just kind of did.” Kevin turns away when she starts to slide her dress off and change. He sits on his bed with his back to her.

And when she’s done, she turns his head and bends to his level. The full face of makeup doesn’t match her oversized pajamas. “I’m a bitch, and I like to gossip. This? This is not gossip. I won’t tell.” She leaves the room before giving him the time to respond.

Kevin calls Dalton back a few minutes later. Once he’s calmed himself down. “Hey.” He rubs his forehead.

“Seems like my sweater is really stirring up drama, huh?”

He rolls his eyes. “Idiot.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Foxes all find out about Dalton, bets get settled, Kevin willingly misses practice for the first time, and Dalton's friends find out who he's dating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again, unedited and un-beta'd but whatcha gonna do aha.

Kevin gets dropped off by Dalton at the stadium the next morning. And because he doesn’t see anyone else there, he lets Dalton grab his face and kiss him before climbing out with a confident smile.

That instantly fades when he sees Nicky and Allison staring at him as they exit the stadium doors.

It’s therapy week for the Foxes.

Kevin freezes up. Nicky’s grinning, and Allison continues walking to her car. “Wait!” Nicky wiggles his eyebrows when Kevin grabs his arm. “For once in your life, Nicky, please keep a fucking secret.” He says. “Don’t tell anyone.”

The weirdest thing, amongst the whole situation, is how Nicky loses his smile. “Are you gay?”

Shrug. “Bi,” he mumbles.

“You’re serious about not telling people? You’re not out yet.” Kevin nods. “I _can_ keep secrets, you know. When they matter.” Kevin drops his arm, and Nicky turns to look at Allison.

She tilts her head and pushes her hair from her shoulder. She considers playing dumb, but she’d rather have some fun with Nicky. “If a bet about you two boning comes up we’re splitting the pot.” Nicky nods. She shrugs and gets in the car, then rolls her window down. “I’ve known since the banquet. Get in the car, Hemmick!”

Kevin doesn’t tell either of them that Andrew and Neil know, too. The more people Nicky is able to talk to about it, the more likely it is to get out to the others.

It still makes him moody during practice, though. He tries not to get distracted, which normally isn’t a problem. But he finds himself worrying over if he should just tell the others that he’s bisexual. Just to get ahead of it, or get it over with. And then worrying over what he and Dalton _are,_ and if they’re going in a direction that would even give him a reason to come out to the public, even.

Who is he kidding, of course they’re heading in that direction.

His mood gets the best of him, that on the ride back to the dorms Andrew drives right past Fox Tower and to Dalton’s apartment. Kevin doesn’t even realize until the car stops. “What are-”

“Get out. Get rid of the attitude.”

Kevin stares at him, and steps out with a huff when Andrew clearly is going to get his way. “You’re one to talk!” He calls as the Maserati speeds off.

The thing is, is that Kevin has learned over the past month or so is that he’s incredibly touch starved. So while he could just walk back, it’s only fifteen minutes, he doesn’t want to. He’d much rather have Dalton wrap his body around him, and take a nap, and just be with him. _When did he get so soft?_

So when Dalton lets him in with a smile at the unexpected visit, Kevin kind of falls into his arms and hugs him. “Can you hold me,” he mumbles.

“Yeah,” Dalton frowns. “Is everything okay?” Kevin shakes his head. He lets himself be held. It’s a different type of vulnerability, but Dalton takes it with grace.

Eventually, when Dalton’s lying on him with a hand in his hair, he gains some courage. “Do you wanna be my boyfriend?”

Kevin opens his eyes. He runs his hand up Dalton’s bare back, underneath his shirt. _Yes._ “I’ve never been in a real relationship before. My last one… she was toxic for me.” _Triggering, would be more accurate._

“That’s okay,” Dalton whispers. His hands slides down to Kevin’s face and he drags his thumb down his lip. “Just want you, Kev.”

Kevin frowns. Just for a second. It’s the first time he thinks he’s ever heard something along those lines, and it hits so _deep_. He rolls over Dalton and kisses him into the mattress.

* * *

The Foxes have a field day with it. Kevin doesn’t tell them, per say, but after Matt and Dan both meet him in the hallway on the way out of the suite he finds out pretty quickly that Allison was right about bets starting up.

Kevin brings Dalton by the suite one night, because there’s no point in avoiding the tower at this point. He just doesn’t expect to find the Foxes all spread out on the couches and the floor.

“Nevermind.” Kevin starts to walk backwards, but Andrew appears in his path, arms crossed. “Stay.”

Kevin balls his fists at his side. “Why.” He challenges. But Andrew doesn’t answer, he’s already said his piece. Kevin almost ignores him too until Neil pulls the Vice Captain card.

“I’ll hit you,” he says in French. Neil shrugs.

“It’s fine, Kev.” Dalton practically pulls him to the group. Dan greets him first and introduces herself and the rest.

“We’re playing never have I ever, drinking edition, if you wanna play. But you gotta drink for Kevin, too.” Dalton doesn’t really want to get hammered tonight, but he also wants Kevin’s friends to like him, so he doesn’t want to say _no._

“They don’t play nice.” Kevin watches him sit in the circle. Dalton brushes it off, but he finds out the hard way that he’s absolutely right. The Foxes don’t really play the game right, and _all_ they do is go for each other.

It’s safe enough, mainly targeted at Neil until it starts coming around to Kevin. “Never have I ever paid a guy to knock me out,” he says. Neil takes a drink with murder in his eyes. Andrew flicks the back of his head from behind. He isn’t playing, but he’s not letting Neil get wasted without being close by.

Plus, he lives there.

Matt waves a hand in the air and laughs. “Never have I ever gone to a peaceful Exy banquet.” He nods around the room. “Everyone’s drinking!”

“Never have I ever done cracker dust.” Dan points an accusing finger. The cousins, Neil, and Dalton- for Kevin, all take a drink.

Nicky’s turn. “Never have I ever had a panic attack over getting a _phone_ .” Neil glares and drinks. Dalton chuckles to himself a bit. He _knows_ the Foxes have a reputation, but little does he know just exactly what he’s getting himself into.

Renee hums. “Never have I ever kissed the same gender.” Neil, Nicky, and Allison drink. Dalton takes two swigs.

Neil is never too good at thinking up ideas. “Never have I ever dated outside of Exy.” He shrugs. Aaron, Nicky, and Dalton drink. Dalton does a sip for Kevin.

“Never have I ever broken a bone.”

Kevin, Matt, Aaron, Neil.

“Broken a hand.”

Kevin.

“Witnessed Kevin having a meltdown.”

Everyone drinks. Kevin frowns.

“Lived with my dad for two years without telling him he was my dad.” Kevin stiffens and shoots daggers at Allison. Dalton scans the others, and drinks when Kevin gives a solemn nod.

“Had to get shitfaced to get a tattoo.”

Kevin.

“Sent Neil to Edgar Allen.”

Kevin.

“Seen Kevin’s real smile.”

Neil, Dalton.

Dalton is leaning against Kevin’s side, head tilted and eyes drooping. The fact that he’s very drunk and not paying attention is the only reason Kevin doesn’t have a heart attack when Nicky says, “Belonged to the yakuza!” Kevin doesn’t move when Dalton snorts and stifles a laugh, he thinks Nicky’s joking. No one comments on it in favor of moving on, it’s not hard to tell everyone knows it was a bad move.

Aaron pipes up. “Never have I ever dated Kevin.”

Dalton drinks, and it settles a few bets all at once.

Matt’s drunk, and giggles to himself when saying “Never have I ever given Kevin a blowjob.” He cackles. Dalton laughs too before taking a drink.

“We’re leaving.” Kevin stands and pulls Dalton to his feet. That was the last straw. He’s sober as all hell and he’s not going to let them take the piss out of him and Dalton like that.

Dalton has an arm around his shoulders. He ducks his head by Kevin’s. “S’fun, hm?”

Kevin doesn’t respond. If he were in a cartoon he’d have steam coming out of his ears right now. It was _not_ fun and he had _reasons_ that he didn’t want Dalton meeting the Foxes yet, but the whole thing was fucked over because Neil pulled the Vice Captain card and Dalton was too nice to decline.

_No. This isn’t Dalton’s fault in the slightest._

Neil calls to him in French from his spot on the floor. “You knew they’d find out at some point.”

Kevin stops, he turns, furious. “None of you had the right pulling this shit. I’ll fucking kill you.”

And escorts Dalton out.

* * *

Kevin is a vision coming into the lounge the next morning. He’s lucky that the Freshman aren’t in the room, because he doesn’t think they would have stopped him from going off on his friends.

“Dalton isn’t _fucked up_ like the rest of us! There’s a _reason_ I didn’t want any of you meeting or even _knowing_ about him and it’s _not_ because I hadn’t fucking come out yet. He’s not a _fox,_ and he’s not even _Thea_. He’s not involved with exy, he doesn’t know anything about Riko and _me_ and the Moriyama’s and the rest! There’s a lot of shit he doesn’t know about yet and _none of you_ had the right throwing it all out in the air last night just to have a fucking _laugh_. Tell me, was it funny? Was it fucking funny getting him _shitfaced_ just to get some answers and take the piss?!”

No one answers. Not at first, anyhow. Dan stands after a moment, and Kevin holds a hand out. She looks to Andrew. For help, maybe, but his silence sides him with Kevin. She sighs. “Kevin, we were just trying-”

“You have _no_ excuses, Dan. None of you do. You were trying to make a fool of me _and_ my boyfriend for nothing. And now, _I_ have to go fix it.”

He storms out, and because he doesn’t have a car, he jogs all the way to Dalton’s apartment.

And no one stops him.

Mainly because as soon as he darts back down the hall Wymack pops into the lounge. If anything, he looks mad at those he left. “The fuck did you idiots do to make him skip practice?! Huh?” He raises his eyebrows. “You realize that’s never happened before, right?! We don’t have protocol for the day Kevin skips Exy.” He drops his papers onto an empty seat. “Court. Now. Danielle, Neil- don’t come back until this shit is fixed.”

Neil drives them in the Mas.

Meanwhile, Kevin doesn’t actually have that much to fix. But that’s only because Dalton doesn’t really have many questions.

“I get the getting drunk to get a face tattoo, I don’t think I’d have the balls to do it sober either, but why the cracker dust?” He looks a little defeated. Not like he’s disappointed, but just _confused_ . Kevin’s such a health junkie that it just doesn’t make _sense._ Dalton knows that sometimes athletes get hooked on steroids and such, but he _knows_ what cracker dust is. It’s useless.

“It’s…” Kevin pauses. “Aaron’s mom… Okay, don’t tell anyone I’m telling you, but Andrew and Aaron didn’t grow up together. Their mother only kept one of them, and Andrew grew up in foster care. Aaron was hooked on drugs because of her, but when they met again and Andrew moved in, he locked him in the bathroom for a few days and forced him through withdrawal. Cracker dust was just something easy and not dangerous to ease him off. We only did it when we went clubbing in Columbia; Nicky took it for fun, Andrew took it instead of his pills so he didn’t go through withdrawal, and… I just kinda took it because I didn’t feel like dealing with everything else in my head.”

Dalton takes Kevin’s hand into his lap. “I’m sorry.”

“For what? I did drugs. As bad as it sounds, you’re not wrong for being suspicious about it.” Dalton rolls his eyes with a little smile. “I’m serious. What else? Hit me.”

“I don’t know, I don’t really remember everything.” He laughs. “I just, you… the comment about your dad?” Oh. “That’s none of my business, but it seemed to bother you. Are you okay?”

Kevin nods. He’s just happy he isn’t asking about Neil being sent to Edgar Allen. Hopefully it’s one of the things he doesn’t remember. “I’m okay. That’s… Me and him are a little weird.”

“You don’t have to tell me.”

He shakes his head. “No, no, ask me about it.”

Dalton gives him a look. “Are you sure?”

“Ask me.”

He nods. “What’s the deal with you and your father?”

“It’s Wymack. Coach Wymack. He’s my father. I found a letter from my mom a few years ago saying it’s him, and everyone knows what kind of kids he recruits so I knew he was probably trustworthy. That’s why I transferred here from Edgar Allen after I broke my hand two years ago. I was just too scared to tell him… I didn’t grow up with real parents, so it wasn’t something I really had the courage to share with him until this past spring.”

“I don’t blame you. That’s a big deal,” he says. “Thanks for telling me that.”

Kevin drops his head forward to Dalton’s shoulder. “Thanks for asking.” And smiles when Dalton huffs a laugh.

Dalton pulls his head up. “And for the record, I like that I’m one of few who have access to your’ real smile’.” He kisses him. Kevin slides a hand up the back of his neck, but before he can do anything more there’s a hard knock on the door. And then another. “Gonna get it?” 

Kevin shakes his head.

The knocking starts again.

“Come on, Kevin! Just open up for a second!”

Dalton gently pushes him away. And since Kevin knows that Dalton likes it when he speaks French, he kisses him just one more time before whispering, “I hate them all.”

Dan’s at the door with Neil in tow.

“What do you want?”

“To apologize.” Kevin raises his eyebrows. “Look. We take the piss a lot and you never seemed to be visibly affected by it, so we didn’t realize that last night was really upsetting you until you left.”

“You said never have I ever seen Kevin have a meltdown. Why do you think you’ve seen that? Because I’m a toddler? You know that I’ve had my reasons and you _know_ what they are.” _Riko. Nathaniel. The Moriyama’s._

“I know. We don’t want to give you excuses. I-I don’t have an explanation. You’ve-”

“Bring him to the winter banquet,” Neil cuts her off. “We’ll be nice. If anyone says anything I’ll chew ‘em out, or Matt will throw a punch.”

Kevin grimaces. It’s in less than a month. The Ravens will be at the banquet. He’d have to tell Dalton some things by then. Not to mention he isn’t even out, yet. They never pay the press any mind, but there’s still pictures that surface and they’d be bound to catch some of him and Dalton together. He’d have to say something to the public. Come out publicly.

Neil says his name again. “It won’t be the end of the world.”

Kevin just barely shakes his head. “No… But people knowing that he’s my boyfriend could make his life hell.”

“That’s why you have us,” Dan says. She looks so _determined_. “We’re all assholes from time to time, but we’re family. And if he’s worth it, then that means him, too.”

Kevin glances back behind him. Dalton’s just chilling on the couch scrolling through his phone. Kevin’s chest tightens. “Fuck.” He turns back and takes a breath.

“He’s worth it.”

* * *

He _is._ But Kevin still doesn’t make the move to invite him or come out yet. He still has time.

Plus, he has more pressing matters on his hands, like meeting Dalton’s friends. It’s only fair, now that _his_ friends know about them. He sees it as a step towards coming out. Allison sees it as an excuse to why he’s pushing it out longer.

“Kevin’s my boyfriend.”

Nate chokes, briefly, on his water. Reid looks up from his phone. “What?”

“Kevin, Kevin Day. You know how we’re friends?” He nods. “We’re dating. We just haven’t told anyone cause he isn’t out yet. Only his team knows. You guys can’t tell anyone.”

Emmie joins the rest of them in the living room. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“You’re gonna have to show us some proof on that,” Sam says from the kitchen.

“He told me to bring you guys to the game this weekend-”

“We’re going,” Nate cuts in. Jenna gives him a look. “He gives Dalton his reserved seats in the front row. It’s fucking _awesome_.”

Reid, who definitely doesn’t believe him, leans back. “That isn’t _proof_ , though.”

So Dalton pulls up a video of Kevin kissing his cheek a few times before landing on his lips. It’s only one video, but enough that Reid pulls the phone closer to confirm it’s really him in the video and gives an unbelievable look around the room. “Okay. Okay, we’re going. We’re going.” He nods to Nate, who’s grinning. “We’re going.”

* * *

“You guys _have_ to be normal,” Dalton says as they make their way down to their seats. Kevin’s reserved seats. “He’s literally a normal person who happens to play a sport. If you act like he’s anything more than that then he’ll get weird. Okay?”

Nate is buzzing. He barely spoke any words to Kevin when he’d met him at a game with Dalton over a month ago, and he wants to make a good impression this time. He’s determined to be friends with him.

He comes around before warm ups and nods at Dalton. “Hey.” He leans over the rail to hug him, then props his racquet up. “I’m Kevin. It’s nice to meet you guys.”

“I’m Jenna.” A short girl at Dalton’s side pipes up. “Not gonna lie, I don’t know how you two got together. Does it make your head explode that he knows nothing about sports?”

“Especially you, I mean, sorry, dude, but you’re fuckin awesome.” Jenna elbows Nate.

Dalton throws him a death glare. “You’re embarrassing.”

“Um, it’s okay.” Kevin fakes a small smile. “What are you doing after?”

Dalton shrugs. “I think just going back to Jenna and Em’s after this. Do you wanna come?”

Not really. But he knows Dalton appreciates when he spends time with him. “If we win, sure.”

“If you wanna stay over tonight, you’ll win.” Dalton raises an eyebrow, but he’s got a smile on his face. Kevin’s face feels hot. He’s smiling embarrassed, but is he really? Maybe he’s just sheepish. He knows he shouldn’t be embarrassed of Dalton- he _isn’t_. He just… isn’t used to being shown off. Not like this, like a proud boyfriend.

He likes it, he thinks.

Emmie reaches around one of the boys, Kevin can’t remember all of their names right now, and punches Dalton’s arm. “Gross! I heard that!”

“I wasn’t _hiding_ it!” Dalton’s laughing. _God, that fucking smile will kill me one day._

Kevin leaves for warm ups, and he leaves the group a little in awe. All but Dalton, of course, and Emmie, who’s just as clueless about sports as Dalton is. And while none of them besides Nate have really gone to a Palmetto Exy game before this, they all agree that they’ll be going more often. In their defense, the Foxes have only been worth watching since Neil and Kevin got onto the court last year.

Reid collapses into his seat. “I can’t believe my best friend is dating Kevin Day.” He grabs Dalton’s arms. “Dude, you’re _dating_ Kevin Day. How the _fuck_ did you not realize that when you _met_ him?!” Dalton shrugs.

“Yeah, yeah, imagine how I felt when Dalton just goes _oh, wanna go to an exy game with me for my first time to see my friend?_ And then his friend is Kevin Day, and they’re _dating_ now.”

“We were together then, too. He just wasn’t comfortable with anyone knowing he was with a guy yet. Which-” he points a finger at all of them, “people _don’t know_. The only reason you guys know is because his friends found out so he said my friends could too. He’s still not out, okay? Anyone asks, we’re just friends.” He raises his eyebrows at Sam and Nate, the bigger Exy fans of the group. Sam holds his hands up in surrender.

Emmie pats Dalton’s arm. “Don’t worry bout me, I still don’t know who he is.”

The three boys, Sam Reid and Nate, all lean forward to look at her. “What?!”

* * *

They win. By a lot.

No one’s surprised, but still.

Kevin takes his time getting to Dalton’s friends place afterwards, and he wasn’t nervous before, not until he’s knocking on the door. He knows he was stubborn earlier about not caring to be friends with them, but they still have to _like_ him. If they don’t, that’s five against one. He doesn’t want to lose Dalton when he feels like he just got him.

Jen- Jenna? Jenny? No, Jenna. Definitely Jenna.

Jenna answers the door, nearly half his height, and goes right for the side hug. She’s clearly done some drinking in the time they’ve been back. “Kevin! Kevin’s here! Oh my god, you guys _crushed_ them tonight- _Hey_ , is Neil Josten single?”

_What?_

Kevin grimaces. “Uh, no, he’s taken.”

Jenna hums and pouts, but then Dalton shows up around the corner to wisk his boyfriend away. “Okay, so they’re all kind of drunk right now, so we don’t have to stay if it makes you uncomfortable.” He gently pushes a wet strand of hair from Kevin’s face.

There’s not much anymore that sways him, though, so they stay. Dalton sticks to his side because he’s also drunk. He’s talking to one of Jenna’s friends when Nate offers Kevin a beer. “No thanks, I don’t drink.”

“And that’s why I could never be a college athlete,” he jokes. Kevin fakes a laugh. _Right, that’s why. Aha._

Reid, who hadn’t said a word to him all night, calls him over after their game. He throws an arm around Kevin’s shoulder. “Dalton’s my best friend, yeah? That means when something bad happens to him, I feel like I kinda feel it, too. He’s like a gentle giant, so he gets it bad.” That definitely fits. “That being said, last time one of us,” he gestures to the friend group, “got their heart broken, an impulse puppy was bought and ended up living with Dalt cause he’s the only one able to care for a living thing. I-I love Lily, but this group doesn’t need another puppy. See where I’m getting at?”

If he wasn’t one of Dalton’s friends, Kevin would’ve laughed a little. Reid isn’t too intimidating. At least on the level of what Kevin’s had to deal with. “I’m not going to break his heart.”

Reid claps his shoulder. “Good. If you did, I’d have to kill ya.”

Kevin snorts after he walks away. _As if he could even try._

Dalton takes Reid’s spot. “Hey, nerd.”

“Oh hey. Funny seeing you here.”

Dalton grins. “You wanna blow this popsicle stand?” It’s a false question, he could tell Kevin was ready to leave a half hour ago. He starts to pull him towards the doorway.

Kevin slides his arm around Dalton’s waist and hugs him close as they walk. “Sure.” He slips his fingers just underneath the hem of Dalton’s shirt and mumbles in his ear. “But I’d rather blow you.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where the twins play tricks, Allison makes a threat, Dalton gets some insight, and Kevin goes on television.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> would it be easier if i re-named this fic to "the one where someone doesn't know who kevin day is" ?? like how it is on tumblr? i don't mind either way but if y'all read the notes lmk in the comments or send me an ask on tumblr!

Now that the Foxes _know_ about Dalton, and that Dalton knows enough about _them_ , the tricks begin. Granted, Andrew would have done it sooner, but Aaron didn’t know about Dalton enough to involve him. That, and he didn’t care to do it before if it didn’t seem like Dalton was going to stick around.

“You’re just gonna stand in front of him and make him guess?” Neil asks. “You made me figure it out on my own.”

Andrew looks at him. “You were a threat. And a Fox. He’s like a puppy.”

“You don’t like puppies.”

“No, but I can still acknowledge that they’re harmless.” Andrew walks into the suite. Dalton is sitting on the couch with his laptop on his lap and notebook to the side with a pen in between his teeth and glasses perched on his nose. He looks up when he sees Neil, and the twins come into the room.

He kind of forgot there were two of them. He only met Aaron the one night of never have I ever, and it was a blurry night for him at that.

He nods at them in greeting though, and drops the pen from his mouth when they come over to where he’s sitting. This could go one of two ways, and he has no clue which one he’s leaning towards. Was it something he did? Did he even do anything?

He doesn’t _think_ so.

“Hey, guys.”

Nicky bursts into the room with Matt on his heels, and crashes beside Dalton. “This is gonna be good.” He gets comfortable.

“What’s happening? Why?”

Neil doesn’t look like he particularly cares for what happens, but he _does_ seem serious when he nods at Andrew and Aaron. He knows that Andrew’s doing it for a reason, whatever it may be, so he trusts that it matters to him. “Can you tell the twins apart?”

Dalton tries joking, “You guys still need help telling them apart?” But by the looks of their faces, they don’t find it funny. Both of them look at him expectantly. He frowns.

Matt claps his shoulder. “If they dressed the same every day, absolutely, dude.”

Commotion from the hallway diverts his gaze to Kevin walking out of the bathroom rubbing a towel through his wet hair. Oh, and shirtless. It’s the main reason Dalton gets distracted from the event at hand.

Kevin stops when he sees the crowd of Foxes and tugs his shirt on. “No, no, no, what’s happening here?” He stands in between Dalton and the twins. Almost like he’s trying to protect him.

Neil looks up at him from the loveseat. In French, he says, “Making sure he pays attention. Andrew’s idea.” That’s when it hits Neil, too, though. Andrew’s unspoken reasoning.

Kevin’s difficult on the court and off, and while it’s mainly caused by the paranoia and lack of emotion or love he received growing up, it still doesn’t change this. He needs people around him that can spot when he needs a break, or when he needs to be talked down. People who pay attention to him, and not in the way that fans do or Riko did. It’s why he gravitated to Andrew, even without his promise. Even high, Andrew was always able to spot when Kevin was on the verge of a panic attack, and was willing to smack him in the head and tell him that he’s overthinking.

Dalton does that. In a more affectionate way, but to each their own.

Paying attention to the twins may not be the most effective way to test the theory, but Neil guesses that Andrew isn’t willing to either trigger or wait for a panic attack from him.

Kevin shoots daggers at Andrew, and then Neil. “With what intentions?! Throwing him out if he can’t tell them from one another?! Let me have one good thing in my life, for fucks sake.” But Neil doesn’t answer. He just stares at him until he gives in. Kevin huffs and sinks into the couch.

Dalton looks to him, and then back at the twins once he realizes that this isn’t something he’s getting out of.

They’re wearing the exact same outfits, arm bands and everything. There’s no ticks or anything to give them away, they both stand so still.

One of the twins’ fingers twitch. Calloused and rough on the knuckles. Dalton looks up at his face. He stares him dead in the eyes with no hesitation. His hair falls a little bit longer, he thinks.

He looks at the other twin. His hands don’t look as roughed up, but a bit cleaner instead. His eyes dart around too fast. 

He would typically think that the more steady one would be Aaron. Aspiring doctor, seemingly more calm. But he also remembers when Kevin’s pointed out the crooked window by the couch, and how Andrew punched it open once. That, and Andrew pays attention more than any of the others. He doesn’t think he’d let anything distract him if he wanted.

He nods at the steady twin. “Andrew.”

Aaron relaxes and crosses his arms. He looks annoyed. Matt stands. “I swear I’ve seen them do this twice before and I can’t ever get it.”

“Our own aunt couldn’t tell us apart.”

Dalton quickly glances to Kevin. “Andrew’s hands. And you were avoiding eye contact.”

Kevin looks smug, and stands. “Can you leave us alone, now?” He pulls Dalton up with one hand and starts packing up his school stuff into his backpack.

Aaron and Nicky leave. Neil waits in the hallway for Andrew who lingers for a few more moments and tilts his head. He doesn’t say anything when he turns on his heel towards the bedroom. Not until he reaches the door. “He can stay.”

“Whatever.” Kevin rolls his eyes.

As they leave, Wymack is down the hall talking to Dan and Allison. Kevin turns when Wymack spots him and goes for the opposite stairwell. “Day!”

“I’m running late for class!” He calls back, and shoves the door open. Dalton follows blindly. 

“You don’t have any more classes today,” he says. Except Kevin just shrugs and looks out the window. There’s something holding him back from the collision of his father and his boyfriend, and Dalton thinks he knows what it is. But he knows better than to press any further at the moment, and holds his tongue the whole ride back.

Once they get to his apartment, though, he tries again. Kevin’s tossing a ball at the ceiling and back down. He’s calm again, and it’s like none of this morning’s interactions ever happened.

Dalton snags the ball. He leaves the room to go to the kitchen. “Does your dad know about us?” Kevin sighs and follows him. “I’m not upset, I’m just wondering.”

“Yeah… yeah, he probably knows,” he says, and grabs the ball back.

Dalton reaches in the top cabinet for a bag of chips. The ones Kevin loves but refuses to buy for himself because _they’re not healthy._ Kevin’s leaning against the counter when he turns, so he copies his stance opposite of him and crosses his arms. “So that’s a no, then?” Kevin frowns at him. “I’m not _saying_ anything. I know it’s different, but you know, he’s still your dad. He’s fine with Nicky, and Andrew and Neil.”

“It’s just not like that.”

Kevin grabs the chips and follows Dalton to the couch, and after he’s settled he lifts his boyfriend’s book from where it’s propped up on his stomach and replaces it with his head. He briefly meets Dalton’s eyes, but before he can protest he says, “You took the pillows.” He closes his eyes.

There’s no comfortable way of reading with Kevin in the way, but he’d much rather card his fingers through his hair than tell him to move. Dalton doesn’t know that Kevin’s always been incredibly touch starved, but he _does_ know that this is just one of his ways of showing affection.

He discards his book in favor of turning on the TV. “Oh, and there’s another pillow on the loveseat, by the way.”

Kevin reaches a hand up blindly and puts it over his mouth. “Shh. That one’s uncomfortable.”

Not that he’s complaining, but it _is_ the exact same one Dalton’s leaning on. He pokes at Kevin’s cheek. “You’re just a softie.” Kevin scrunches his nose and turns his head. _Focus_. He turns back to the matter at hand. “Why are you so scared of telling him when you know that he’ll be okay?”

Kevin shrugs. “That’s not why I’m hesitant to tell him.” Dalton waits while he finds his words. “I’m just… We don’t have father son talks like normal people have. We’re not _there_ yet, I don’t think.”

“You’re scared he won’t care, not that he won’t approve.”

_I’m scared that he won’t care about this, or anything else. I’m scared that just when I’ve found my father he doesn’t want that title. I’m scared all he’ll ever be is my coach._

“I guess,” he mumbles.

Dalton drops the rest of it. He wishes he could understand where Kevin’s coming from, maybe offer some advice. He’s really just lucky enough to have gotten what he has out of the conversation.

He gently scratches Kevin’s scalp. _His hair is so soft, for always being stuck in a helmet._ “Wanna stay over tonight?”

Kevin nods.

* * *

The Foxes are away that weekend. Normally away games never bothered Kevin as much because he’s so used to traveling that it’s like second nature. But recently they’ve become more troublesome. First off, he hates waking up early, and second, he spends the whole weekend in a hotel bed instead of in Dalton’s.

The only upside is that he gets Dalton little postcards from every new state they go to. Dalton tapes them all to one of the walls of his room.

Allison slides up to him and leans against the shelf of the airport store. “Have you asked your boyfriend to the banquet, yet?”

“No.”

“Oh, good, maybe I will, then. If you never plan on bringing him yourself.” She steps in his line of vision. “What’re you so scared of, Day? He’s already met the bunch of _us_.”

Kevin turns a postcard in his hands. “No one even knows I’m not straight but the team and a few of Dalton’s close friends. There are often paparazzi outside the banquets, on top of the other people inside that would happily spill that my date is a guy.” He looks at her. “If I bring him, I need to come out. Publicly.”

“So do it.” She crosses her arms. “What could be worse than when you found out the Ravens were transferring to our division?” He frowns.

“That’s not the same thing.”

“No, it’s not. Nothing is the same as the yakuza. This should be a piece of cake.” Kevin balls his fists at his sides. “You’ve got two weeks until the banquet. If you don’t ask him, I’ll ask him to be _my_ date… Aren’t you proud of your boyfriend? Don’t you wanna show him off a little?”

She struts off leaving Kevin frustrated with not only her but himself. And everything. Everyone.

Of course he’s proud of his boyfriend. Of course he wants to show him off. 

He just needs to tell him some things first, before a possible encounter with the Edgar Allen Ravens. He needs to tell him about him and Riko. How he was treated, what they were. What they both were to fans of Exy, what Kevin _really_ is to fans of Exy, what Kevin was to _Riko-_ without mention of the yakuza.

But he doesn’t.

Not until after another week of it dwelling on his mind, _Riko_ on his mind.

Dalton’s leaning over him and shaking him when he wakes up from a nightmare. He’s speaking, rambling, and he’s _right there_ , but all Kevin sees is Riko, Riko, RIko. He gasps and flinches, “No, stop- _stop!_ Get away! You- please!” He tries pushing him off, which is where it takes all of two seconds for Dalton to back off. 

“Hey, hey, it’s me, it’s Dalton! You’re safe, you’re in my apartment. No one’s here, I promise!” He’s holding his hands out.

The lamp next to the bed gets flicked on. Kevin flinches again. He’s breathing so _hard_. He can’t _breathe_. He’s holding himself pressed back against the headboard when he finally focuses on Dalton.

He crumbles.

Dalton’s never seen him so bad. It’s heartbreaking to watch as Kevin drops his head to his knees and lets out the biggest mix between a sigh and a sob.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, hey, it’s okay,” he breathes. “Can I hold you?” He moves to his side, cross legged, and Kevin turns to hug him instead.

“I’m sorry, m’sorry,” Kevin shoves his face in his neck.

Dalton wraps his arms securely around his back. “You don’t have to be sorry. I know there’s shit up here.” He kisses the closest part of Kevin’s head he can reach. “I don’t need to know what, just know you’re okay, and you’re safe here.”

Dalton can still feel how hard Kevin’s breathing, and how fast his heart is beating. He slides his fingers through Kevin’s hair to try and soothe him.

Kevin closes his eyes. It’s been bad before. Worse than this, at times, but he’s had such a long string recently without the nightmares that it only makes them feel worse when they return.

_Tomorrow. I’m telling him tomorrow._

Dalton lays down, eventually. “C’mere,” he whispers. Kevin nearly wraps himself around him with his cheek pressed to his chest.

When Kevin wakes up again it’s to find that they’ve switched positions overnight. Dalton’s got his arm lazily draped over his waist, almost holding him close like a pillow. His ankle is thrown over Kevin’s. It’s all so very domestic, which is something that Kevin’s been noticing more and more lately. 

He doesn’t want to move. In fact, he stays so still so as to not wake Dalton, that when he finally stirs Kevin just shushes him and pulls his arm back around him. He holds his hand close to his chest.

Dalton nuzzles himself closer. He’s not stupid, he knows Kevin’s awake. “You like being cuddled,” he mumbles.

“You’re the one doing it, not me.” Except he definitely tilts his head further into the pillow to expose his neck as Dalton starts kissing up the back.

Dalton’s a morning person the second he wakes up, so he has no trouble moving to push himself up over Kevin. “You like being the little spoon,” he says. “You like when you’re on the bottom, Kev.” He kisses him deep into the mattress for a moment despite some morning breath. “I like it.”

“And what about it?”

Dalton grins, but sits back and falls next to him. “So, about last night.”

Right.

“Yeah, we… we need to talk about that.”

“Look, you don’t have to tell me what it was about or anything, but it scared me, I didn’t know how to help you, or what you were _saying_.” Dalton pulls his knees up and flips the hood of his sweatshirt over his head.

“Was I, like, not making sense?”

“You were speaking some other _language_. And not French, I know what that one sounds like.”

Oh. Well, that’s certainly a promising way to send Kevin’s stomach to his feet. “Right… Um, it was probably Japanese.”

Dalton nods. “Is this gonna be a long conversation?” Kevin looks up from his lap. He could make a long story short, if he wanted, but he knows he needs to get it all out. Even then, it may not take that long, but _then_ that’s excluding a possible panic attack in the middle of explaining what he went through. Why he’s got so much trauma and anxiety. Why he _probably_ has a panic disorder. So he nods.

“Alright. I’ll make coffee, then, if you wanna shower first?”

Kevin’s shower is really just him hyping himself up enough to tell Dalton the whole nine yards.

He climbs into Dalton’s bed and lies with his back against his chest. It’s easier that way, that he doesn’t have to look him in the eyes as he tells it all. 

He starts off with his mother. Who she is, what she did, why she was a big deal and in return why he’s a big deal because of her. That part isn’t hard, not compared to the rest of the conversation.

“My mother died when I was very young, so I went into the custody of my godfather, Tetsuji Moriyama. He raised me, and also his nephew, Riko, because their family is a bit twisted. We grew up at Evermore, the stadium at Edgar Allen University. It’s where we lived. Riko and I started playing Exy since before I can remember, and we used to draw numbers on our cheeks, he was one and I was two. We called it our perfect court, we’d be the number one and two exy players in the world. When we were old enough we got them tattooed for real.” He turns his face so Dalton can see the chess piece. “I got mine covered this year, but yeah… we just needed three and four. Three was eventually Jean Moreau, and four was supposed to be this one kid when we were younger, but then he disappeared.” Should he be telling Dalton about Neil? Is it his place?

No. Nathan Wesninski includes talk of the Moriyama’s and then the yakuza. They’re not there yet. Kevin doesn’t know if he’ll ever be able to tell someone that.

“So, we grew up in the spotlight and in the public eye. So our idea of perfect court was idolized by fans and such. But like, growing up, um… it was bad. It was really toxic and abusive in ways I didn’t notice until I was ten, I think. It was only normal for me because I didn’t know any different until then. But Riko eventually went from a brother figure, to a teasing brother, to a controlling brother, to abusive. And, um… I was more like property to Riko, than anything else. Even from the start, but he didn’t take advantage of it until we were older. We were inseparable, but not in a loving brother type of way, not how people saw us. It was more like I was his obedient… dog, or something.” He cringes saying it, because while it’s true, the reality of it is still harsh.

Dalton plays with Kevin’s fingers to ease his mind. “Um, so Riko broke my hand my sophomore year at Edgar Allen, because we were playing one-on-one against one another and he lost. Someone had asked who was better, and people thought I was holding back playing with him so I didn’t outshine him, so they put us against one another, and he couldn’t deal with the fact that I really _was_ better.” He traces Dalton’s finger over the scars on his hand. “He did it when no one was around, but Tetsuji knew, and Jean knew cause he was abused too. It-It wasn’t just Riko, it was Tetsuji, too. He was our coach at Edgar Allen, and he had this- he had this cane, and-and-"

Dalton shushes him a little. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Kevin turns his face into Dalton’s chest and takes a few deep breaths while he tries regaining his composure. He twists his hand in the bottom of Dalton’s shirt. “Um…” He pushes through. He won’t get through it all if he doesn’t. “They said it was a skiing accident, since we’d skipped the banquet to do the one-on-one. It was during the winter banquet, and since the Foxes were there, and I knew that Coach Wymack was my father, I went to him for help. It was the last straw of all the things I went through there, especially since Wymack was within easy access that day, it was easier, I don’t know.” He shoves his hand into his sweatshirt pocket and balls his fist where Dalton can’t see. “Um, and you know the story of how I found out about him being my father.”

“So… Um, Andrew made me a promise, that he’d keep me safe while I was there. Riko and I had tried to recruit him when he was a senior, fun fact,” he breathes. Dalton cards his fingers gently through his hair. “I stayed hidden for a bit, cause I was terrified they’d make me come back home and I _knew_ if they told me to come back that I would. So… that’s-that’s _my_ story.”

“I don’t expect you to say anything. I don’t know how I’d react to someone telling me that, to be fair, but if you’re willing to deal with my baggage, then I’d really like a hug instead.”

“Jesus, of course, Kev.” Dalton wraps nearly his whole body around Kevin. He sticks his head in his neck from behind and kisses his jaw. “I’m so sorry they did that to you.”

“Yeah,” he whispers. “I might have a panic attack about it later, but…” he trails off.

“Can I ask you a question or save it for later?”

“Do it now.”

“Okay, I’m guessing the chess piece is covering the number tattoo, but why a chess piece?” He kisses the tattoo, ever so softly.

“Riko used to call himself the King of Exy, but the Queen is the deadliest piece on the board,” he’s whispering again, because he feels like he’s been talking forever and he feels like he’s overloading. Like his senses are already on high alert. It’s probably his anxiety, he guesses.

“Would you be willing to tell me what triggers you, or your panic attacks, I mean. So I maybe know what not to do or like, so I can help before it happens, if something triggering is happening- I don’t know, I just-”

“It’s okay. Sometimes it gets bad when I’m just really in my head, or Riko’s really in my head. I can’t help that, but physically I don’t like being in rooms with no windows or anything for too long, especially if they’re dark. Bathrooms are different. Confined spaces without an easy way out. If anyone holds my bad hand too tight gives me a short little panic until it’s released, which is stupid, I know, but-”

“That’s not stupid, Kev. None of these are stupid, kay? Your trauma is valid”

Kevin looks at him for a moment, and nods. _My trauma is valid._

“Um, the uh… mentions of Riko or the Moriyama’s in general make my skin crawl a bit. Japanese… sometimes. Riko taught me growing up, and it’s what we spoke to each other in. Just if I hear it out of nowhere it catches me off guard and makes my stomach drop for a second.” He pauses. “Probably a lot of other things, too, but that’s just what I can think of,” he says.

Dalton pushes his hair off his forehead. “Thank you for sharing that with me. All of it.”

Kevin nods. He feels like he’s been wrangled with. He needs a break. “Can we take a nap?” Dalton doesn’t respond, but he does move so he can slip under the comforter. He wraps Kevin in his arms again once they’re both comfy. _Oh._ “Also, do you wanna go to the winter banquet with me? It’s next weekend.”

Dalton hums. “You’re lucky I have a suit on short notice.”

* * *

Kevin was right about having anxiety later. Thinking about his trauma is one thing, talking about it in detail is another. Dalton notices all through dinner on his couch, fancy, and when they’re trying to watch Survivor. Well, more like _he’s_ trying to watch it.

“Need to get some nerves out?”

Kevin’s knee is bouncing. He stops. “Can you take me to the court?”

* * *

There’s someone here.

Not that Wymack should be here this late, himself. Not that he _wants_ to, either, but even he falls victim to overworking every once in a blue moon. Maybe that’s where Kevin gets it from.

No, definitely Kayleigh.

He grunts and pushes out of his chair. The lights in the locker room and hallway are on, and when he peeks in, Kevin’s locker is empty. “Why am I surprised,” he mumbles. This is the same kid who was at the court at midnight almost every day last season.

He steps through the tunnel, dark, and stops to see Kevin firing shots on the empty goal. He thinks for a moment that maybe he came alone, but there’s movement in the stands. Someone he only recognizes from brief passing. Kevin’s new friend.

New “friend”.

Wymack isn’t stupid. Right? He doesn’t want to jump to conclusions, but he was right about Andrew and Neil before Neil even knew it himself.

He backs out. It isn’t his business to intrude when neither of them are doing anything wrong.

He makes it his business the next morning, though.

“Listen up, we’re taking the bus to the banquet, but I’m not making that drive two times in one day and Abby doesn’t get paid enough for me to let her do it either. If I need to make extra room reservations I want it done sooner rather than later, so if any of you are bringing a date that isn’t already on this team then let me know.”

He leaves. He almost feels bad. He knows the roommates he assigns never stay that way, anyway, and he didn’t even do it last season, but is he so crazy for wanting to speed up the process of Kevin coming clean to him?

Fuck. “That’s so wrong.” He stands from his desk just as Kevin opens the door. 

“Nicky’s bringing some guy Luke and Aaron is bringing Katelyn. The cheerleader.”

He makes a mental note of it. “Is that it?”

“Uh, I have one too.” Kevin can barely hear himself over his heart threatening to explode. Should he sit down? No, he’s too nervous. “But, it’s a guy.”

Of course it is. Wymack nods and leans back in his chair. _Finally._ “I’m gonna play father right now, because I care about you and I have a sense that this is you trying to come out to me.” He pauses. 

Kevin sits and bites the inside of his cheek. “Kinda, yeah… Um, I’m bi… bisexual.”

“Okay. You know I’m okay with that.” He pauses. “What’s his name? It’s the kid you’ve been hanging out with recently?”

So he _has_ noticed. Kevin shouldn’t be surprised. “Yeah, yeah, his name’s Dalton.”

“Does he go here? How old is he?”

“Twenty-four, he’s a grad student here.”

“What’s he studying?”

Kevin subconsciously knew Wymack would care a _little_ bit, despite his worries, but not _this_ much. _But he’s trying._ “Math, but he teaches a few 101 classes here. He wants to be a professor.”

“Good profession.” Kevin’s sitting with his hands in his lap, knee bouncing, and Wymack takes a moment to think up what he wants to say. He never was good at being sentimental, he’s more of a tough love kind of guy. “Look. I’m happy for you, Kevin. So long as you're happy and he treats you right, then I’m happy for you. You know that. I’d say that to any of you, too.”

Kevin’s smiling. “Thank you.”

“But also,” Kevin’s stomach drops. “You think I’m stupid? You’ve been hiding that boy for months, now. You’re not slick, kid.”

Oh. Kevin itches the back of his head. He didn’t think it was that _obvious_. “Yeah, well… surprise? Um… now that you know, and the rest of them know, I think I need to come out to the public before the banquet. If Dalton goes then there’s gonna be pictures leaked of me and him together, and I’d rather have a handle on it before anything can happen.”

“If that’s what you want to do. Andrew and Neil didn’t come out, they’re okay.”

Kevin drops his stare on his father. “That’s because there’s literally no evidence of them dating and they don’t give a fuck about what people say anyway. I don’t want theories flying around about Dalton and just, I think-”

“Hey, you don’t have to sell _me_ on it. I don’t care what you do in public as long as it’s not breaking the law.” He picks up his phone, sticks it between his ear and shoulder, and starts typing on the computer. “I’ll call someone at ESPN. You’re lucky you’re Kevin Day.”

* * *

After Kathy Ferdinand, Sophia Silletti is the only journalist Wymack trusts with his Foxes. She works for ESPN in the College Exy section, and she posts a _1 week until we’re joined by Kevin Day_ post as soon as the interview is booked.

They talk strictly about Exy and only stick to pre-approved topics and questions, nothing like Kathy’s show. It’s no wonder Wymack trusts her.

On schedule, she asks him whether or not he has a favorite team that he’d like to play for in the pros. “I don’t think so, no. Of course, like anyone else, I’m just going to be happy to be on a pro team at all. A lot of athlete’s careers end after college, so I’ll take what I can get.”

“Would you prefer starting new, with people you’ve never played with or against, or would it be fun playing with some friendly faces? And don’t say Knox, that’s a given for everyone.”

Kevin laughs. _Fake._ “Sure, sure. I’ve played with Jean Moreau before, and he’s an extremely promising player. Despite the Foxes’ reputation, they’re all fantastic players. I’d love to play with them in the future as well.”

“I mean, how can you go wrong with Andrew Minyard at your back? What about Thea Muldani? I know speculations of you being an item went around a bit last year. Forgive me if I’m overstepping, but is that still a thing?”

Kevin nods. “Up until May, I’d say. We’re still friendly, I have the utmost respect towards her, and she’s also an amazing player, but in the end it just didn’t work out.” _I haven’t talked to her in months._

Sophia nods. “Everything happens for a reason, I like to think.”

“Of course. Things happen, and it’s led me elsewhere.”

“Is that hinting at something?” She laughs. “I feel like we don’t normally talk about this stuff, but does Kevin Day have someone new in his love life?” She’s teasing, and Kevin fakes a smile as he hangs his head in faux bashfulness for a moment.

His palms are sweating. He hopes his face isn’t red with nerves. “I do, actually. I won’t say anything about him for his own privacy.” _I don’t want the public’s prying eyes._ “But we’ve been together for a bit, now.”

Sophia is grinning. She feigns surprise. “Did I hear you say _him_? Is that another surprise?”

He keeps his smile easy, lax, but he can feel the worry in the back of his head telling himself they can see right through it. _You’re fine._ “If you’re asking, sure. I’m bisexual, so yes, my partner is a man. This is the first time I’ve ever announced it to the public, actually.” _As if that wasn’t the whole point._

“At least your fangirls can keep their hopes up, then, yeah? Still got a 50/50 shot! And I’ve got to say, too, I feel honored you trusted me and my segment with sharing that for the first time. Coming out, especially in professional sports, unfortunately hasn’t always been easy or common. It’s a big deal! Is that like a weight lifted from your shoulders, now that it’s out there?”

Kevin waves a nonchalant hand. “I was never too stressed about it.” _Lies._ “Some people are going to hate, but my job is playing the game. If my fans are true then this shouldn’t be something that matters or changes that.” He nods. Sophia’s smile is comforting, she looks like a proud friend even though Kevin’s never met her once before this.

It’s back to Exy for the remainder of her segment, and once he leaves the stage Wymack catches an arm around his shoulders to walk him out. “I’m proud of you for doing that.”

Kevin’s hands are shaking. “Thanks.” He needs some air.

He puts his press face on when they exit the building. There are security guards and crowd fences up to shield them on their walk to the car, but because it’s ingrained in him he stops to sign a few things and take a few pictures before jogging to join his father in the car. He sinks into the backseat and throws an arm over his eyes. His phone is buzzing away in his pocket. He almost tosses it across the seat until he sees the top text.

_**Dalton:** **still just a history nerd** _

He drops his head back against the seat and takes a breath.

**_Kevin: all for you._ **


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dalton is nervous about meeting Kevin's father, Kevin's father is nervous about meeting Dalton, and the Foxes hit the winter banquet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit of a shorter chapter, but chapter six has the potential to be the longest one in the whole series so i'd say the trade off is fair...

The interview doesn’t come out until the morning after the banquet. That way, there’s not any more press than normal lingering outside the banquet the night before. It’s the only reason Kevin hasn’t worried about it yet. The only thing he needs to be nervous about is Dalton spending six hours on the bus with the Foxes.

The only thing  _ Dalton _ is nervous about is the fact that Kevin’s coach is his father, whom he’s never met before.

He’s doing work at Starbucks, go figure, when a blonde sits next to him. Allison. “Are you excited for the banquet? It should be fun,” she props her chin in her hand, and there’s a look on her face and something about the way that she says  _ fun _ that sets him off. Like fun really means something else. Entertaining, a trainwreck, possibly. Dan  _ did  _ imply that one night that the banquets tend to get messy with them.

“I’ve never been to one, so it’ll definitely be interesting.” He sits with his ankle tucked under his knee. “You… Okay, so I’ve never met Kevin’s dad before. And-And you know, obviously I’m gonna meet him tomorrow. Do I just- should I be nervous? I’ve met parents before, I  _ know  _ what to do, but like…” 

He doesn’t know what he’s trying to say, or ask. Is he making sense at all? He’s a graduate student, for fucks sake.  _ Pull it together. _

Allison hums and takes over. “Listen. Wymack would kill me before admitting it, but he’s secretly a softie with a heart of gold. He’s the one who’s given us Foxes all more chances than some of us deserved.” She shrugs and stands to make her way to the barista stand. Dalton shoves his laptop into his bag and follows. He doesn’t know what else to do, she’s literally still talking. “We’re all protective of Kevin in some ways, but Wymack maybe a little more, especially since he found out he’s his literal son. I don’t see why he wouldn’t like you, you’re a good guy and Kevin isn’t as much of an ass since he’s been with you. I think we can all tell you’re good for him.” She shrugs. “Andrew’s nearly killed people and we still think he’s his favorite.”

That… should be surprising. But given what he knows about Andrew already he’s able to brush it off.

He’s not sure if Allison’s talk makes him feel any better, or even more worried, but he guesses he appreciates it nonetheless. He offers his card to the barista after Allison orders.

“Please, no, honey.” She swipes it and pushes it against his chest. “I’ve got more money than anyone at this school.” 

She pays for his drink, instead.

Dalton tries not to smile as he takes a sip. Kevin’s friends are a different breed, he swears.

* * *

Wymack has known who everyone, including Kevin, was bringing to the banquet for two weeks now. He doesn’t make the realization, however, until he’s sitting with Abby in his office. She’s on the phone, but when she hangs up she crosses her arms. “What.”

Wymack frowns. “Nothing.”

“Not nothing.”

Why does he let her read him so easily? “Kevin’s bringing his boyfriend.”

“Yeah… you’ve known that. You said you knew they were a thing before he told you.”

“Yes, but…” He makes a vague gesture. “Do I need to pay mind to  _ his  _ date in particular?”

“Because you’re his father?” He doesn’t answer, and she sighs. “I’ll put it this way. The poor kid might be worrying over meeting his boyfriend’s father like normal people do. Even though your situation isn’t the most normal, it’d be very nice to make it a point to introduce yourself and pay him a little mind. It might make Kevin feel better, too. To know his father approves.”

“Kevin knows I approve.” He frowns. “What, have you talked to him?”

“No.” Abby laughs. “But I  _ did  _ have boyfriends in college, David! Meeting my dad was usually something they were nervous about, he was a big guy.”

Wymack leans his head back and rubs his face. He knows she’s right. Kevin deserves for him to be supportive, even if he’s not the best at showing it.

The next morning, the cousins are the first ones on the bus, for a change. They all nearly pass out as soon as they get on, but Kevin hangs behind to wait for Dalton.

Apparently it’s obvious.

Nicky hangs out the open bus door. “He meet Wymack, yet?” He goes bug eyed when Kevin shakes his head. “You haven’t introduced your boyfriend to your  _ dad  _ yet?! I’ve even shown him Erik on Facetime!”

_ Jesus.  _ He didn’t think it was a big deal. It’s just the banquet.

But then again, he’s never had a boyfriend before. Or a father, really.

“Should I have done that before? Why- it’s not a big deal.” He tries not to look worried, but Nicky is better at reading people than one would assume. He claps a hand on Kevin’s shoulder.

Nicky shrugs. “I would have, first impressions are important.” He leaves Kevin outside alone to start overthinking. He’s lucky Dalton’s only ten minutes away or he would have gotten far enough to just hide in the bus instead.

He goes right to Kevin with a smile, and kisses his cheek before grabbing his hand and continuing on his way to Wymack.

Wymack hasn’t  _ really  _ seen him in person. Not long enough to be able to recognize him on the street. The first thing he notices is that he’s tall… Taller than Kevin.  _ Where the fuck did he find him? _

Second, that he very clearly makes Kevin happy, and that they’ve both got it bad for one another. Judging by the way Kevin smiles at him with no prompting, the one the Foxes only get every once in a while. The gentle touches and attentiveness that Dalton so clearly gives him. Subtle in the way that Kevin needs.

Wymack decides he likes him before Dalton even looks his way.

“I’m Dalton. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Wymack.”

Wymack shakes his hand. “You as well. I’ve heard good things.” He puts his hands on his hips. Kevin hasn’t really said things about Dalton in general, but he lets it go. He’s just being polite.

“Hell, hope I can live up to then,” he laughs. “I would’ve made it a point to introduce myself before, I apologize. I feel like I’ve been grading finals for weeks, now.”

“You teach Math, Kevin said.”

“That’s right. Mainly low levels, the 101 classes. I’m hoping to be a professor or high school teacher after I graduate.”

“Jesus, I think I’d blow my brains out if I had to put up teenagers every day.”

“You’ve got your hands full with this crew, anyway. I’ve had my share already.”

“Damn right. Where you from?” Why does Kevin feel like he’s third wheeling right now?  _ Is  _ he?

“Maryland. Quite the ways from here.”

He’s doing a better job of talking to his father than he does sometimes.

“Hey, not to break this up, but we should hop on the bus. All we’re waiting on is Allison.” He lets Dalton shake Wymack’s hand again before stepping up.

Wymack holds him back. “You tell him shit, yet?”

He hesitates. “Yes. Not the yakuza,” he mumbles.

“But he knows you’re kinda fucked in the head?” Kevin almost frowns, but he’s not wrong. “Not to say the rest of those idiots aren’t.”

“He knows.” He normally wouldn’t care to mention it, but it can’t hurt to boost his boyfriend’s morale. “He’s helped me with panic attacks, and… um, I had a nightmare and shouted at him in Japanese when he tried waking me up.” Wymack gives him a pointed look. “It was instinctive.”

“Riko?” Kevin nods. By the look on his father’s face he almost regrets telling him that part, but Wymack just purses his lips and after a moment nudges him towards the bus. “He’s a good kid. Stop your worrying and get your ass on the bus.”

It’s as good as a compliment he hoped for, honestly. Kevin bites the inside of his cheek, then smiles. He catches Dalton’s eye.

The drive is six hours, and after a few spent sleeping, Dalton makes it his mission to befriend the Foxes. Or something of the sort. Whatever he can get, really. The last time he spent time with them they got him plastered and spilled Kevin’s life faults.

He starts with Allison, who he’s already talked to on multiple occasions. She’s not hard to get along with in the slightest. Dan joins in after a few minutes, which then gets Matt involved.

It’s almost like he’s found a new best friend.

They’re sitting in the same row to talk- though most of it’s just laughing, when Matt stands to peer over the back of Kevin’s seat. He’s slouched against the window with his arms crossed and eyes closed. “Hey, Day?” He grunts in response. “Just letting you know that your boyfriend is my soul sister.” What? “And that I’m stealing him from you.”

Kevin hums. Why was he ever worried?

Once Abby takes over the driving for the remainder of the trip, Kevin sets into an intense conversation with him about different strategies against new teams. It’s only when he turns to stretch his back that horror sets in. Neil talking to Dalton. “We’re four hours in, Kevin. He’s made it  _ this  _ far.”

AKA, Neil won’t break him.

One can’t be too sure.

“Still,” he mumbles. He stands. Maybe he’ll just pop in for a second.

Except they’re talking about math.

He sits. “That’s disgusting.” He leans back in his seat and watches them talk.

Renee smiles across the aisle. “ _ You’re _ dating him.”

The Foxes are sat on the opposite side of the court than the Ravens, as has become routine ever since the last season. It doesn’t stop Kevin from casting a worrying glance their way.

“I don’t know why, but this isn’t what I expected.” Dalton says. Kevin tears his eyes away from the team clad in black. He sets his hand on the back of Dalton’s back.

“Not the Grammys, that’s for sure.” He almost says something else, about how it's normally not this civil, before being distracted by Jeremy Knox and Jean Moreau.

“Hey! I’m Jeremy, nice to meet you!” He shakes Dalton’s hand, and then goes in for a side hug to Kevin. “Date, friend, or new teammate?”

“Date. I’m Dalton, I’ve heard great things, really.”

Jeremy waves a hand. “Nah, that’s just cause it’s Kevin.”

Kevin zones out of the conversation in favor of Jean stealing his eye. “Everything well?” he asks in French.

They have this thing. They don’t talk often, even on the phone, but when they do it’s more of a check up. They bring too many memories with each other to be casual friends after all this time. The care is still there, though.

Jean nods, solemnly, and tilts his chin up a bit. “Not that I care who you’re intimate with, but is it really a good idea to make it public?”

_ He’s not trying to be mean. He’s not trying to be mean. _

Kevin schools a neutral expression. He knows Jean is still overcoming his fear of upsetting Tetsuji, even though he’s out of the picture for the two of them. The Moriyama’s don’t care for their personal lives so long as they’re bringing in money. He’s just glad Dalton can’t understand what they’re talking about. “It’s already done, so yes, it is. You know my income isn’t going to lesson over it, they wouldn’t let it.”

“So long as it does not tarnish your reputation.”

“You act like I haven’t put two and two together between you and him.” He jerks his head towards Jeremy. “Stop being so fearful of what he thinks.”  _ Tetsuji _ . “He’s been removed and exposed. He has no pull in the pros anymore, he can’t affect your career.”

Jean doesn’t look away from Kevin. He knows exactly who he’s referring to, and he knows he’s right. “I know,” he whispers. “I’m still working on it.” And gives in. “You know I’m glad that you’ve found someone good.”

Dalton, the fan of French he is, grins. “Do all Exy players just speak French?” He comments, more of a remark to Jeremy, who laughs.

“That’s what I said, I feel like _ I _ need to get in on it. Jean moved from France when he was young, so he taught Kevin when they were at Edgar Allen.” Dalton doesn’t know how much of Kevin and Jean’s past Jeremy really knows, but he’s not about to test it. He’s more preoccupied on the fact that he knows what Kevin and Jean went through at Edgar Allen, now. He knows Japanese is hard for Kevin to stomach sometimes. He doesn’t know what French is to him.

He grabs his hand when Jeremy and Jean eventually finish up, and keeps him back a moment. “Is French triggering for you?” he says it quietly.

Kevin frowns. “What?”

“Japanese is triggering for you because of where and who used it. Jeremy said Jean taught you French. And you’ve  _ told  _ me about your time with Jean.” Kevin lets him take hold of his other hand.

He frowns. He didn’t think Dalton would catch something like that. He himself hasn’t even thought too much into that. “French was an escape because no one but us two understood it. I use it with Neil because there were a lot of things last year that only him and I knew and couldn’t share with the others. I like speaking it to you, because you like it… It helps take away the meaning behind why I learned it in the first place, I think.”

He still looks defeated. “Okay. Just, you’ll tell me if it becomes a problem, though, right?” He nods. “Okay… Can I kiss you? Cause we’re in public, and stuff, so-”

Kevin kisses him. “Yes. I mean, Jesus, I’m coming out for a reason.” He starts to turn away with fake annoyance. Dalton snorts and turns his chin back to kiss him again.

“Don’t be a smartass.”

“I’ll think about it.” He smiles and tilts his head a little. Dalton is giving him his signature charming smile, and bites his lip to try and bring it down. “I like your smile.” He feels silly just saying it. He feels like a child again

Dalton smiles bigger. “Thanks.”  _ How is he this lucky? _

Dalton gently pulls him by the lapels of his jacket. He kisses him, just short and sweet.

“Dalton! And Kevin, I guess.”  _ Matt.  _ He looks cheeky for catching them in the moment away from the crowd. Dalton turns his face to hide in Kevin’s neck. “Volleyball?”

Dalton snaps his head back. He’s smiling again, but this time it’s with giddy excitement. “I’m gonna  _ dominate  _ you.” He points an accusing finger and starts backing away as Kevin starts forward.

“You’re not gonna be on my team?”

“Nope!”

* * *

Andrew doesn’t understand Dalton. Moreso, he doesn’t understand the appeal of dating Kevin despite the fact that he’s incredibly attractive. Not his type, but he can acknowledge it.

He just doesn’t get how he’s paired with someone so… so  _ soft. _

He just knows he has to talk to him alone, and after the banquet is the perfect time. Dan’s room is the place to be, and while he, Dalton, and Kevin are the only sober ones, Kevin’s so tired that he might as well look plastered.

Andrew settles his stare on Dalton until he meets it. He jerks his head towards the doorway and stands. Dalton follows. Kevin doesn’t even notice.

Andrew leads him to his own room. He closes the door behind him and shoves Dalton up against the wall. He goes to shove a knife close enough against his chest. He didn’t predict that Dalton would push him away, but he does. Successfully, too.

So he backs off. “Good,” he says. “You are expected to protect him. It is not my job anymore.”

Dalton’s panting, confused. Then mad. “You think I  _ wouldn’t?!  _ I’m not stupid, Andrew. They rally behind you for protection, sure, but you also push all of them around and get away with it.  _ I’m _ not one of them, I don’t care how many bodies you have, I’m not gonna let you get away with that shit with me  _ or _ Kevin. You  _ know  _ what he’s been through.” He’s fuming.

It’s amusing, really. On Andrew’s standards. He didn’t see this coming, the fighting- the fighting  _ back _ . He slides his knife back into his armband. Dalton isn’t fazed by his hidden weapons. “You are right about something. I know how to successfully kill a man and get away with it, and I will not hesitate with you.”

Dalton flexes his fingers. He doesn’t want to ball them into fists, Andrew would see it as a threat. “It’ll never be needed. I know what he’s been through. I’m not him.” Riko. “I won’t let him let me be, either.”

Andrew’s thumb twitches. He’s heard those words before.

He approves. He might even like Dalton.

Dalton, after a moment, breaks eye contact. He looks away. “Kevin told me what you’d promised him when he came here.” Safety.

“I was not gentle with him.”

He shakes his head. “No… No, but I am. And I can take over, now.” He opens the door. “Thank you for keeping him safe.”

Andrew returns back to the group after a while, just in time to see Dalton sitting behind Kevin and kissing his cheek. “Wanna head back?” He drops his head to the crook of his neck. “You look really good, baby.”

_ Ew. _ He turns his attention back to Neil.

Kevin leans his head back into Dalton’s chest. “ _ That’s  _ a new nickname,” he mumbles. He thinks he likes it.

* * *

Kevin’s interview comes out the next morning, so the Foxes load the bus and get on the road before it airs. They don’t need anyone waiting outside the hotel.

Kevin’s knee is bouncing the whole trip until Dalton throws his legs over them and gives him a pointed look. “Kev. It’ll be fine.”

“I know,” he mumbles. “I’m just scared that it won’t be, anyway.”

He sighs. Kevin looks on the verge of panic. The seats are long, and not typically meant for two people, but he pulls him up to sit with his back against his chest. He kisses the back of his head and wraps his arms around him. “I ever tell you how I came out?”

“Happy ending?”

“ _ Yes _ , happy ending, jeez,” he laughs. “Me and Jenna were friends all through school, so she was the first person I told sophomore year of high school. I told my sisters senior year, because Carmen saw me flirting with a guy at a party. I waited until we finished moving me in at PSU freshman year to tell my parents. Almost like an hour before they left so I wouldn’t have to deal with whatever their reactions would be.”

“I can’t imagine that went well.”

“Eh.” He shrugs. “Only reason it didn’t was cause then my mom felt guilty that I felt like I had to wait so long to tell them. They weren’t expecting it, so it kinda threw them off for a sec, but they took it like champs. And look at me, now. Dating a huge ass history nerd.”

Kevin tries suppressing a smile. No one but Dalton will ever know, but that might be his favorite nickname he’s ever been given. Just the proof that he’s not  _ just  _ Exy. That he can be identified with other things.

Then again, the others will never know that that nickname exists, even, if he can help it.

“How did other people react? When they found out?”

Dalton pauses. He hums. “I mean, Jenna was here and already knew, and Emmie was her roommate and she’s lesbian, anyway. I dunno, I only became friends with people that were accepting and didn’t care. I was getting close to this friend in my class freshman year, but then he made a few too many homophobic jokes so I just distanced from him. There’s only been a few people here and there that make a deal out of it.”  _ This isn’t helping.  _ “But-But, I mean, look, I know there’s a lot more people that will care in general about you being bi. You’re probably gonna get some haters, but the majority of them will still rally behind you, yeah? If they care about who you like to fuck enough to not come to your games then they’re not really fans, right?”

“Yeah,” he mumbles. “That’s what I said in the interview.”

“Good. It’s true.”

“I know.” He turns his face into Dalton’s chest. “You’re nice.”

Kevin can feel the low rumble of him stifling a laugh under his head. “I know.”

The day after they get back to Palmetto, Kevin can feel one too many stares as he goes from class to class. By the time he gets back to the dorms he feels emotionally drained. He falls back onto his bed and pulls the covers up over his head. He tries scrolling Twitter, but all that's trending is him. He's too scared to see what they're saying. He shoves his phone underneath his pillow.

His phone starts ringing.

“Hello?” 

“Hey, whatcha doin?”

He hums. “Sleeping.”

“M’kay. Do you wanna do something, or just be lazy?” He sounds like he’s shuffling around.

“Be lazy.”

“Can I be lazy with you?”

He hums again.

Kevin doesn’t know how long he falls asleep for, but when he stirs it’s to someone climbing into bed behind him. He goes to turn, but instead Dalton wraps his arms around him and tucks his head into his neck.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas time; Dalton says some things, Kevin goes to Maryland, and New York is definitely not nice to him.

Kevin is stressed for three reasons.

Number one, he’s definitely unprepared for his Anthropology final. Dalton was at the suite when he was supposed to be studying yesterday, but instead they made out on the couch. Typical.

Number two, Christmas is in a week and he’s working himself up over how he’s supposed to act. Last year, he spent it in New York with Matt and the monsters. This year, he’s staying in Palmetto with his father and Abby.

He doesn’t know what it entails, and whether or not he’ll freeze up the whole time. He’s spent plenty of alone time with Wymack, sure, but not as his son, and not on a holiday that’s supposed to _mean_ something.

 _Does_ it mean something to Wymack? He never made a big deal out of it before. But Kevin knows he never makes a deal out of any occasion.

Kevin doesn’t think he has it in him. He’s lucky that Andrew and Neil are going to be there. Neil probably hasn’t ever celebrated the holiday, and Andrew normally serves as _some_ type of entertainment. So long as he isn’t left to fend for himself.

The third and final reason is because Dalton asked if he wanted to come up to Maryland over break, and Kevin said yes. What he failed to realize at the moment was that it also means meeting Dalton’s family. And while he knows it makes Dalton happy, that isn’t enough to settle his nerves.

 _How did he let himself get talked into staying there for a_ **_week_ ** _?_

Oh. That’s right, because he’s trying to be a good boyfriend- and being a good boyfriend means doing things for Dalton that are important to him. _That’s probably why it’s stressing him out_.

He flinches, and plucks Dalton’s chapstick off his lap. 

Huh?

“Come back to the present, will you?”

He drops his head back against the seat. “Sorry. I zoned out.”

They’re pulling up to Stewart Hall, Kevin’s last final of the semester. “Are you okay?”

He shrugs. “I’m just nervous about meeting your family.” He looks at Dalton’s lap instead of his face.

Dalton puts the car in park and leans over the center console. He kisses Kevin’s cheek and stays there for a moment. “Hey. I know it won’t help to say there’s nothing to worry about, but it’s still true. They’ll love you cause I love you.”

That’s cute.

Wait.

Oh.

_What?_

Kevin drags his stare up to Dalton’s face. He’s smiling, he knows exactly what he’s done. “What?”

Dalton just takes Kevin’s face in his hands. “I love you. And I don’t expect you to say it back, and me saying it probably isn’t helping your nerves, but thinking about me loving you is probably nicer than thinking about meeting my family.” He kisses him. “You gotta go, Kev.”

Kevin’s mouth is still hanging a little as he wordlessly steps out of the car. But then he stammers and leans into the open window. “You- You’re just gonna spring that on me and leave?”

_What is happening right now?_

“Yup. And you’re gonna think about it whenever you doubt yourself taking this exam.” He puts the car in drive, and blows him a dramatic kiss. “Text me when you’re done?”

Kevin shakes his head. “No- I mean, _yes_ , but-”

“Okay!” He starts to pull away. “Good luck, love you!”

Kevin watches his car until it turns the corner. “Fuck.” He tugs at his hair as he heads inside.

_That’s four reasons._

He tries so hard to focus during the exam, but he keeps getting sidetracked. At one point he scribbles a tiny list on the desk.

  * _xmas w wymack_


  * d’s family


  * d loves me -> do I love him back? do I have to say it?


  * get xmas present for d !!


  * what do u say to ur bf’s parents ??



He frowns and erases it. He wants to bang his head on his desk.

He knows Dalton said to call him to pick him up after he’s done, but instead he sits outside and pulls out his phone. He scrolls through contacts. He hesitates over multiple different names. _Just call_.

“Hey, are you okay? You never call me,” Abby laughs. _Oops._

Kevin grimaces. “I’m just stressed about something, and you’re the only person I thought I should call.” He picks at his nails with his phone balanced between his ear and his shoulder. _This is stupid._ “Yeah… so Dalton said I love you this morning, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Did you say it back?”

“No?”

“Okay, well, you don’t _have_ to do anything about it. You can say it back if you feel the same way.”

He _does_. He thinks. Does he? Or does he just feel obligated to say it?

He and _Thea_ never said it.

 _No._ He shakes his head. His relationship with Thea was toxic and nearly fabricated. It doesn’t count at all.

Then again, he never said it to anyone else he was close to, either. He’s never said it to his father. Or his Foxes. He definitely said it to his buddies after a game when he was younger, though, right? They weren’t ever close, and he probably didn’t mean it, but does that matter?

He freezes. It _so_ matters. He’s never said I love you to someone and _meant_ it. _Fuck._ He’s so fucked up. He knows he’s fucked up- that _that’s_ fucked up and it makes his head spin. He takes a deep breath. He can’t dwell on that. Not right now. Not unless he wants even more of his reality to crash around him. He’s already working through enough of that with Bee.

_Just something to add to her list._

“Kevin?”

“Yeah, I’m here.” He drops his head. _This is embarrassing._ “I don’t know if I feel the same, yet.”

“That’s okay. You don’t have to say it back, yet. You can wait until you’re ready, or you don’t ever have to say it if you never end up feeling it.” She pauses. “He seems nice, I mean, I’d surely think that he’d be okay with you waiting?”

_Of course he will._

* * *

Kevin shoots on an empty goal, hounding balls at cones for what’s probably close to two hours before the door opens.

Wymack looks at him expectantly. He crosses his arms. “Remember when you said no one should be spending unnecessarily extended amounts of time here? Like you did last year with the god-awful night practices?”

He leans against his racquet. He’s being reckless, he knows it. He’s not going to be able to feel his arms for the rest of the day. “I had a lot on my mind.”

Wymack retreats back through the hall. Kevin follows. “Should I be playing Coach or Father right now?”

Kevin hangs his head as they walk. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to him saying things like that- about being his father. It’s not like he ever thought of him as just his coach, though. When he found out that David Wymack was his father, that’s almost all he’s been able to think of him as in his head. The reality of it is just… different. Shocking, even now.

“Both?” Wymack turns with questioning all over his face. “Dalton told me he loves me, but I can’t say it back yet, so I don’t know what to say to him when I see him.”

He crosses his arms. “Hey, Dalton, you know I’m basically head over heels for you as anyone can tell, but I can’t say the L-word yet because I’ve got shit up here that I need to settle first,” he says. “Too Coach?”

Kevin shrugs. _Not really_. “No, it’s what I expected.”

It’s close enough to what he tells Dalton, too. Just a little less _in your face._

Dalton’s legs are warm thrown over his. “I told you you don’t have to say it, that’s okay. Are you uncomfortable with me saying it, though? Do you want me to wait?”

 _No._ He doesn’t want to- or know how to say it. _I need you to keep saying it until I believe you. I need you to keep saying it so I don’t forget. So that I know you mean it._

Instead, he shrugs. He’s been doing that so much lately, he’s scared he’ll turn into Neil. “I like hearing it.”

“Kay,” he says. “I love you, then.”

It makes Kevin smile. Dalton kisses him, and _that_ makes him smile, too. Kevin nips at his lip and lies back. He grabs onto the strings of his hoodie to gently pull him down. Dalton holds himself on all fours above him, and Kevin has his ankle around his leg.

And he feels like he’s lying.

He’s the one who started making out with Dalton and pulled him down, but he didn’t tell him why he really can’t find the courage to say _I love you_ and he feels like he’s _lying_ to him and he’s-

Well, he’s panicking. “Hey,” he mutters.

Dalton has his lips on his neck. “Hey.”

Kevin pats his head. “No, hey, stop, D.”

Dalton pushes himself off so quick it feels like a rush of cool air between them. “Are you okay?”

Oh, he’s a good one.

“Yeah,” he breathes. “No, I’m fine, I just…” He sits up. “I… I can’t say I love you because I’ve never said it to anyone.”

“I’ve only been in two other relationships before this, that’s okay-”

“No, I mean,” he sighs. “When I was with the Ravens, you know, saying _I love you_ , or even like, _oh love you man_ to a friend just… wasn’t something that-that we did. And emotions like that with the way I was raised… I-I probably said it to a friend once or twice, back in little leagues, or something, but I don’t…” He scrunches his nose. _This isn’t working._ He looks up, and Dalton slides his hands up to hold Kevin’s face. It’s all so… so _emotional_ . And Dalton can _fell_ the pain in his chest from the pure hurt and vulnerability in Kevin’s face. His eyes. “I don’t think I’ve ever said I love you to _anyone_ and meant it,” he whispers.

“Hey,” he whispers back. “That’s okay, Kev. That’s okay.” He hugs him and pulls him into his lap- because he’s just that strong- and Kevin takes the biggest breath ever as he tucks his face into Dalton’s neck.

* * *

Dalton goes home to Maryland almost as soon as finals are over. And as soon as he’s gone, Kevin storms into Nicky’s suite. He’s playing videogames with Matt. Matt looks over. “Who died, man?”

“What?”

“First off, you never come here, second, you look like you’ve seen death.” Nicky pauses the game and leans back.

There’s no use in trying to come off nonchalant. He doesn’t have the time. “I need to get Dalton a Christmas present.”

“ _Now?!_ Christmas is in a _week_ , dude!” Matt turns the TV off as a whole. He’s too invested, now.

Kevin sits across from both of them. “I don’t have time for teasing. I’m going to Maryland two days after Christmas.”

Matt leans back with his hands behind his head. “Good thing I’m pretty much his best friend.”

“That is not accurate.”

“And being one of his best friend’s, my advice is to go for something he’ll use, but something that he’ll know came from _you_. Sentimental. Dan got me this morse code bracelet for my birthday that has a hidden message. I wear it during games for luck.”

Nicky makes a noise of disagreement. “No, no, I’d say give him his favorite hoodie of yours to keep, a pair of boxers that say _Property of Kevin Day_ , and coupons for sex.”

“I’m being serious, Nicky.”

“So am I! Those are all gifts I’ve either gotten for or from Erik!”

Kevin rubs his face. “What about a new sweater? Since I stole his other one?”

Matt shrugs, but Nicky gets up and pats his shoulders. “We’ll work on it.”

Kevin groans and looks up. “When you met Dan’s parents-” he pauses. “No, that’s not- I know she doesn’t have like, or associate with-” His hands are shaking. He’s thinking too much into the whole thing.

“It’s fine, dude. I met my girlfriend’s parents in high school. Just be nice and be yourself. Don’t curse around them, or at least not at first if they’re okay with that stuff. Play up how lovely it is to meet them, you’ve heard so much, it’s a pleasure, that sort of thing.” He nudges Kevin’s side. “Don’t think too much into it. You’re a good guy.”

* * *

Christmas is easier to handle than Kevin had thought it would be, but it only lasts until Neil gets triggered by _something_ that pushes him right back to where he was this time last year. Evermore.

From then on, Andrew and him leave, and Kevin stays for a little until his ability to socialize wears out.

And then he’s standing on the doorstep of Dalton Miller’s family home in Bowie, Maryland.

He looks down at the address in his phone. 143 Spruce Road. This is the one.

_This was a terrible idea._

He knocks on the door. It barely takes thirty seconds for it to open, and a girl almost Kevin’s height stands inside. Panic now or later? “Hi,” he says.

She grins. “You’re Kevin! Come in!” She steps back to let him inside and _Jesus_ it’s so nice and warm. God knows how long he’d been standing there before he got the confidence to knock. “I’m so excited you’re here, Dalton told us _all_ about you.” She coos with a wiggle in her eyebrows as she leads him further into the house.

That’s when Dalton sees him, just as he’s shouting as he runs across the kitchen to turn down the pot from boiling over. “Hey!” He very obviously tries not to run over. When he reaches him he almost lifts him off his toes. “How long have you been here?” he whispers.

Kevin smiles and whispers back, “Twenty seconds.”

“Oh good, okay. How was the flight?” Kevin shrugs. “Okay, cool, uh, let’s take your bag to my room.” He grabs it for Kevin and rushes him downstairs. His room and a spare bedroom are the only ones down there. When he shuts the door he takes a dramatic breath. “I’m sorry, I’m really nervous. My family’s kinda loud and my sisters are those people who just kind of act like they’ve known you forever within five minutes of meeting you, so they probably won’t care to be weird in front of you. And my Dad will probably act real tough and he’ll do the dad thing and try to just drill into you.” _What Dad thing? Is that a common thing?_ “Um, and my sisters are annoying and if they bitch at each other in front of you just ignore it- it’s just what they do. And I just-”

“D, it’s fine!” Kevin shrugs out of his coat. “You forget I lived with Andrew, Nicky, and Neil. I deal with bitching and weirdness and drilling on the daily, I can handle it.” He thinks. But he also knows how to school his expression in strange situations and avoid awkwardness. Again, growing up in the spotlight.

Dalton still looks nervous, but he nods. “Okay, yeah, okay.” He takes Kevin’s hand and leads him back upstairs before he loses his nerve. _This is insanity. His worlds are colliding. Why does it feel like a heart attack?_

The two sisters are standing at the table leaning close and whispering to one another. They stop and both turn when the boys return; Dalton throws them a look. “Sorry, stole him for a second.” His mother turns from the stove. “Mom, this is Kevin.”

He smiles at her. It’s his press face, but he can’t change it. He’s too worked up to smile for real just yet. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Miller.”

“Oh, call me Anne, kid. I’m so glad you were able to come out to visit! Dalton’s told us plenty, trust me.” She squeezes his hand. He hopes it’s not clammy. He feels like he’s sweating.

“I’m Carmen, this is Bella!” The one who showed him in waves from her spot at the table. She starts talking again before he can finish saying hello. “So you play Exy? Bella plays Exy.” She grunts when Bella elbows her. “ _What!_ ”

“I don’t really. I play intramural at my school so my friend isn’t alone. I’m really bad.”

Dalton pulls out a chair for Kevin and sits. “Not _terrible_ , I bet he could teach you some moves. He’s a fucking rockstar.”

Carmen mocks him. “Fucking _rockstar_.” Her mother throws a pasta noodle at the back of her head. “For what?!”

“Language.”

“Dalt _just_ said it!” 

“He’s twenty-four.”

“I’m twenty!”

Another noodle. “Don’t care.”

Dalton crosses his arms, smug. “Anyway. Fucking rockstar.” Kevin kicks his foot under the table. “ _What?_ ”

“He’s right, I mean, I know who you are.” Kevin’s stomach drops a bit. “Not like- I know you’re an Exy player, I don’t like _know_ you.” Bella’s neck is so red that it looks like she’s sunburnt. Kevin’s trying hard not to regret coming. _Why did he think he could act normal with someone else’s family?_

And to put the icing on the top, that’s when Dalton’s father comes home. Kevin pretends not to notice him until he makes his way into the kitchen. He stands and extends his hand. “I’m Kevin. It’s nice to meet you, sir.” He’s proud of his handshake, but Mr. Miller doesn’t pay it any mind. 

“George, nice to finally meet ya.” He grabs a bottle from the fridge, and looks his way. “Beer? Dalt, you get him a drink?”

Kevin tries not to stiffen as he sits back at the table. “I don’t drink, sir.”

George frowns for a moment. Did he mix up his age? “You’re not underage, are you?” Only three years younger, he thought.

“No, I just don’t drink.” _Anymore._

“Fair enough.” He joins the rest of them, takes a sip, and gestures towards his cheek. “See you’ve got a tattoo. Why the face?”

“Dad!” Bella is doing homework on her laptop, but looks up with an incredulous look on her face. “Don’t be rude,” she mumbles.

“I’m just askin!”

The question is, who to answer to. He wishes it were Bella, but he feels that her father is the safer one. “It’s a cover up. The one under it was a cocky premature thing with uh… my, um-”

“His kind-of brother.”

Dalton presses his heel into her foot. She takes a sharp inhale, but plays it off. _Butt the fuck out, Carmen._

George actually looks a bit guilty. “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought Dalt said you were an only child. That’s my bad.” How’d he mess it up twice already? This is a big deal to Dalton. _Pull it together, George._

Kevin’s smile is small and tight. Dalton knows why because he _knows._ Bella knows why because she paid just enough attention to Exy news that she remembers the drama and death of Riko Moriyama.

Kevin’s hands are almost in fists underneath the table. “We weren’t related, I just grew up with him. My family situation is… complicated.”

George holds his hands up after a speedy glance at his son. Kevin thanks god for whatever face he must have pulled at him. “Not my business, forget I asked.”

Dinner being ready helps smooth things out, and Kevin boosts his morale with Anne afterwards by helping with the dishes. Dalton calls him into the living room when he’s done. He pulls him down next to him.

“Your whole family calls you Dalt,” he comments. “It’s cute. People at school just call you Dalton. How boring.” Dalton smiles and gently shoves his shoulder. “What’re we watching?” He pretends not to see the History Channel logo in the corner of the TV screen. He’d be joking if he didn’t know what it was. He tends to watch it a lot when Andrew and Neil are gone, or while he’s doing homework.

“Don’t act like you don’t watch this shit every night.” He wraps his arm around Kevin and pulls him close. He kisses his temple when no ones looking. “History _geek_.”

Kevin hums. “That’s not my name.”

“History nerd. Big huge dorky history nerd.” He’s trying to be funny, but Kevin’s just smiling at him with this million dollar watt smile, like he’s never heard anything better in his life. Dalton kisses him quick, then scooches down to put his head in Kevin’s lap.

Once Kevin looks up at the TV, Dalton pouts. _He’s so cute. He just wants to squish his cheeks._ “Love you,” he mouths to himself.

There comes a time into whatever documentary it is, that Dalton gets up for a drink. As soon as he’s gone Carmen grins to herself and tosses a mini pretzel at Bella. It lands on her sleeve, but she doesn’t notice. “History hypnotizes nerds,” she says underneath her breath.

Dalton lingers behind the couch when he sees her toss a pretzel at Kevin. It lands in his hood, and when he doesn’t move to take it out she shakes her head at Dalton. “Ever just watch them watch the History Channel?” What? “You could cut the sexual tension with a knife.”

Bella snaps and kicks Carmen. Dalton rolls his eyes and sits back with his head in Kevin’s lap. He catches Carmen’s challenging eye. He isn’t going to let her win her little experiment.

He leans up and kisses Kevin’s chin. “Wanna go downstairs?”

Kevin slides his hand in Dalton’s hair. He looks down at him for a second. “Soon. There’s still twenty minutes left.”

Carmen cackles. Dalton’s jaw drops.

* * *

Dalton wakes up before Kevin the next morning, and sneaks upstairs while he sleeps. His mother is at the table, and Carmen’s sitting on the counter while her coffee brews. Nearly sleeping sitting up, she jumps when Dalton opens the cabinet next to her. “It’s literally eleven in the morning.”

She waves a hand and yawns. “Shut up.” She rubs her eyes. “I like Kevin. He’s really nice.”

“He’s real cute, hon.” Anne smiles behind her cup.

Dalton smiles to himself. “Yeah, he is.”

“I think your dad said something about taking you two out to lunch while we’re out doing returns and stuff.”

He turns. “Mom, no.” He loves his father, but there are two stages he goes through when meeting any of his kid’s significant others, even in high school. He tries to be intimidating at first, and once he’s done that, he takes them out or treats them to something to “welcome them in”. While the second stage is very nice, he sometimes doesn’t know how to navigate new people. It still baffles Dalton how awkward or weird he can get when he has no problem meeting people that _isn’t_ a boyfriend.

Anne shrugs. “Just get it over with. He did just fine last night.”

“He asked Kevin about the tattoo. I _told_ you guys not to mention the tattoo.” He raises his eyebrows.

She does it right back. “I was talking about Kevin. He didn’t go running for the hills, yeah? He’ll be fine, give him a heads up if you want.”

He opens his mouth to protest again, but stops at the look she throws him. There’s no getting out of it, he knows, so he discards his cereal and heads back downstairs. He climbs onto the bed and wraps himself around Kevin. That on top of kissing his face a few times causes him to stir. He hums. 

“I’m giving you a heads up, my dad is probably gonna take us to lunch and he’ll probably be weird or ask quite questions again so please just ignore how he acts.” Kevin nods, barely. “Kev, come.” He sits back and tries pulling him to sit up.

Kevin groans and pulls Dalton back down on top of himself. “That’s what she said.”

* * *

Dalton should have gone to the bathroom before they left. The last thing he wants to do is leave Kevin and his dad alone, but he’s been bouncing his knee for a half hour now. He’s going to explode.

“I’ll be right back.” He points to George behind Kevin’s back as he walks away.

George nods to him as soon as Dalton is out of ear shot. “So, I never heard much about your family, I know Dalt said your dad coaches at Palmetto. You got a good relationship with your parents?” Kevin freezes, so he shrugs. “Just wondering.”

Kevin wipes his mouth with a napkin and clenches his hands together underneath the table. “Not the best, no,” he says. But he doesn’t like the feeling of someone trying to intimidate him, and he _wants_ Dalton’s parents to like him, so he speaks up after George nods. “My parents were never married, I wasn’t planned.” _This isn’t helping._ “My mother died when I was a child, and she never told my father that I was his so I was raised by Tetsuji Moriyama, my godfather. Five years ago I found a letter in his office written by my mother when she was pregnant with me, and that’s how I found out who my father is. I went to him a few years ago after Riko Moriyama, the one I got this with,” he touches his tattoo, “intentionally broke my hand,” _why is he doing this?_ “but I didn’t tell him that he was my father or, uh, show him the letter until last year.”

He cracks his knuckles in his lap. He knows no one else in the restaurant can hear him, but he speaks quietly anyway.

“I wasn’t raised in a good place by good people. They were toxic.” _Abusive._ “And parents aren’t something that I’ve had before, so when I say my relationship with my father isn’t the best… it’s not _bad_ , it’s just… not the same.”

The only thing George can do is nod again, because then Dalton is sliding back into the booth. Kevin tries not to lean right into him in favor of taking a long sip of his shitty iced tea. _No wonder Dalton says he only drinks it down south._

Kevin’s on his laptop watching plays later that night while Dalton is in the shower. There’s a knock at the door. He looks up. “Come in.” It feels weird saying it in someone else's room.

George opens the door. Kevin pauses his game. “Hey, uh, just wanted to say, you coming out here and meeting us was a big deal to Dalton. We know how much you mean to him. I just, I’m not the best at trying to socialize with my kids boyfriends. I really didn’t mean to upset you at the restaurant, I hope you know that.” He looks remorseful, which Kevin _gets_ , but doesn’t think is necessary.

“I do,” he says. “And I know you were just trying to get some info on the jock your son is dating.” He quirks a small smile to show George that he’s fine. “I just ask that you don’t share what I told you today. Anne can know, and Dalton already knows the full story, but my life is already very publicized and that isn’t something I want others knowing.”

“Absolutely. And… you know, Anne and I are always here, if you ever need, okay?”

He nods. He doesn’t know them on that level yet, and with the problems _he_ has he doubts they’d be of much help, but he appreciates the gesture. Another thing he’s worked on with Bee. “Thank you.”

George catches Dalton on his way back to his room. He pulls him aside. “So, Kevin told me the deal with his parents and meeting his father, and-and the broken hand and being raised in a toxic home.” _Stadium._ Dalton nods, slowly. He can see the tension in his father’s shoulder.s “Just a brief overview. He said you know?”

“All of it.”

_Not the Yakuza._

“Can you explain that a little more?”

Dalton frowns. “He’s okay, Dad, I promise. He’s safe where he is and taking care of himself, he treats me well-”

“Jeez, Dalt! Of course I know that, I’m not accusing him of anything! I just don’t wanna be caught off guard saying something wrong in the future.”

He crosses his arms. “Like you must’ve done to prompt him to tell you all that?” His father makes a vague gesture. He sighs. “He doesn’t get bothered by what people say much anymore. He’s heard it all.” He crosses his arms. “He gets nervous in small or dark spaces without an easy exit, rooms, not like planes. Japanese sometimes throws him off, but just when he’s not expecting it.” He shrugs. “Just don’t bring up Riko Moriyama or his time at Edgar Allen. His relationship with his dad isn’t like ours, just don’t make it weird for him, he’s fine.”

* * *

Kevin is definitely _not fine_ the next day.

The thing with Kevin’s fame is that for most, being popular in the Exy world isn’t normally the same as being an A-list celebrity. And Kevin doesn’t tend to acknowledge the fact that he’s very clearly both. It’s easy to ignore it when he goes to Palmetto. He gets recognition and all, but Palmetto wasn’t an Exy oriented school until they won championships last spring. The students didn’t pay him as much attention as he got growing up, and those who did tried playing it cool whenever they ran into him. Being normal is a comfortable position to fall into.

Edgar Allen was the same in the sense that he was so well guarded by the Raven’s that others didn’t have the chance to talk to him in the first place. He also didn’t really let them, but that’s a different story. He was a dick back then when he didn’t have to put the mask on. He was also never was allowed to do publicity work or go to very crowded places without someone looking out for him and keeping him safe. Just in case.

When he goes into New York City with Dalton’s family, as per their tradition, he gets, for lack of better words, ambushed.

The _train_ was fine, but once they’re in the city there’s a lot of pointing and picture taking. It’s _fine_. He can handle some fans, he’s done it before.

But they multiply faster than he’s used to.

_Where did all these people come from?_

He strains his neck to scout out Dalton in the crowd. His press smile is getting tired. He can’t keep _doing_ this, there’s a _reason_ he was normally only allowed so long to socialize with fans. And for Christ sake, he’s trying to spend time with his boyfriend’s family. He’s never fended for himself like _this_ before- it’s never been this _bad._

_That’s because Tetsuji never let him wander. Andrew never left his side._

Dalton normally doesn’t, either… 

That’s when he starts to panic. _Where’s Dalton?_

Kevin parts from the crowd after the girl posing with him is finished. He hears a whistle and turns. Carmen.

He makes way straight for her, except he doesn’t get there. A guy his own age jumps in front of him, jostling him a bit, and starts talking in his face. _There’s so many people and_ **_where is my boyfriend?_ **

“Excu-“

“Can I just get a picture really quick?”

Kevin tries peering around him. “Um, I-I-“

“He’s done for the day, kid.” Dalton’s father wraps an arm around Kevin’s shoulders and leads him away. Kevin has his head ducked and he’s breathing so _hard_ and _and and and_

He looks up as he runs into Dalton. He falls into his chest with his arms tucked between them. He digs his head into his shoulder. “Oh my god.”

“ _Hey_.” He wraps his arms tight around Kevin.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Kev, stop.” Dalton kisses the side of his head and frowns. A few people are still snapping a picture here and there of Kevin and now himself. What could they want with that? You can’t even see Kevin’s face.

“I’m sorry.”

Dalton shakes his head but doesn’t answer. Kevin _told_ him that he was famous. His mother created the fucking sport that he’s famous _for_ . Why didn’t he expect this? He should have been prepared. He should have been able to protect him. _Andrew_ **_said_ ** _to protect him._

“I’ll do better next time,” he says. He doesn’t think Kevin hears it. It doesn’t matter. It’s a promise to himself.

They’re only a block off of where they have reservations for dinner. Not for two hours from now, but once the hostess sees Kevin and more importantly, his tattoo as confirmation, they have no problem seating the family.

“I’m just gonna go to the restroom.” Carmen rubs his shoulder as he passes her.

It’s a single bathroom. He has no idea how he goes so long in there without someone trying to get in, but the eventual knock startles him anyway. He runs his hands over his face. “One second!”

“It’s Anne, darling.”

He opens the door. He almost steps out, too. He can plaster on a fake smile for a while longer. But Anne steps inside and closes the door behind her. “How are you?”

He cringes. “I’m sorry, I screwed up the whole day, you-”

“ _Hey_ , you didn’t ruin anything, sweetheart. The year Bella threw up all over _Dalton_ screwed up the whole day.” She puts her hands on his arms. It takes all he has not to crumble. He can feel his anxiety rattling at the surface. He feels like he’s been holding off a panic attack for an hour, now. If he doesn’t have one soon he can’t imagine it won’t come later. 

“You can be overwhelmed, Kevin. It’s _okay_.” She rubs his arms. He leans back against the sink and presses his face into his hands. “May I hug you?” 

He nods, so she does. He takes a shaky breath, and when he exhales he can feel himself coming undone. “There were so many _people_ , I-I never-”

“It’s alright.”

“I’ve grown up in the spotlight, but it was so _different,_ I never- I’ve always just…” He can’t even say what he wants to say because _Ravens Ravens Ravens_ , but Anne just shushes him and rubs his back. She reminds him of Abby.

“You’re still _human_ , you don’t have to get _used_ to it.”

Dalton pushes open the door, and pulls Kevin from his mother without any words. He holds his head against his shoulder and gently scratches his scalp, and runs his free hand up and down his back. He whispers affirmations to him, and it’s enough to get Kevin to calm down to the point where he can face the outside world again. It’s just what he needed, and he didn’t even know it himself.

 _So this is what love feels like_.

* * *

Kevin will never be at peace. Not anytime soon, anyhow. At least not fully. He has too many demons to fight off, and he’s only just begun the battle.

But therapy helps, and Dalton pulls him through when it doesn’t.

And now, after Kevin’s thoroughly tired out after such a long day in the city, he feels a sense of that peace. Of what he can have. He guesses he’s just been so unconsciously stressed all semester with classes, practices, a new relationship. Finally coming out, and introducing his boyfriend to his Foxes- his _family_ . And then midterms and finals, and the banquet- _jesus_ the banquet, and meeting his boyfriend’s friends and _family_ , and panic attacks and… 

And now it’s all behind him, and he’s still standing. 

Kevin and Dalton are night owls tonight, with SNL playing in the background. Dalton’s sat behind him on the sofa with his arms around him and his legs on either side of him. Kevin’s leaned back against his chest and he can _feel_ him nosing behind his ear, or the way his chest jumps when he stifles a laugh at funny parts. He’s on such a _high_ that it all feels fake.

_Is this what real life can feel like?_

Kevin rests his eyes. “Pinch me,” he mumbles.

Dalton laughs, softly, and kisses Kevin’s head. Then behind his ear and down his neck.

Kevin giggles. He’s not being tickled, there’s nothing funny, but he giggles anyway. Perhaps just because he can, because there’s nothing but good things in his life at this moment, because he’s never felt like this before.

“Why?” Dalton’s kissing the back of his neck. It sends goosebumps down Kevin’s spine. He grins when he hears Kevin’s giddy laugh. “What’s so funny, huh?” He hugs him tight, and then climbs over him.

Kevin lies on his back and laughs some more when Dalton holds himself on all fours above him. He leans down and kisses his neck, blowing raspberries to make Kevin squirm and squeal. “M’just _happy_!”

Dalton kisses him. “I love when you’re happy.” He runs a hand up Kevin’s side.

“I love _being_ happy- I love _you!_ ” He plants his hands on Dalton’s face. He’s panting, just a bit, and it settles in him what he’s said, and a reminder that he’s never said it before.

It… It feels _good_.

Kevin bites his lip and smooths his thumb over Dalton’s. His heart is pounding. “I love you,” he whispers.

Dalton grins like he’s won the lottery- he has, really. He kisses Kevin into the cushions.

Being the giant that he is, Dalton goes to move his one knee, and instead misses it by a landslide and slips off the couch as a whole.

Kevin cackles so loud that it sounds like a shout. He smacks his hand over his mouth and rolls inwards to the back of the couch to contain any more noise. His shoulders are _vibrating_ with laughter.

Somewhere between the fall and the laughing, Kevin drops onto the ground. He straddles Dalton and leans forward on his elbows and they’re _so_ close. “I love you,” he says.

Dalton lets go of clutching his elbow to link his hands together behind Kevin’s neck. “Prove it, Day,” he mumbles, and pulls him down.

* * *

Kevin likes Dalton’s sisters, once he gets used to them. They’re both very loud, which is fine- he’s _used_ to that, but it’s just a different type of loud that he’s used to. Normally with the Foxes loud means someone did something. With the girls they’re just loud on principle.

And after the New York incident, the two of them start to treat him like a brother real quick. _That’s_ something he’s not used to. He likes it, though. Allison is almost like an older sister, he guesses, but younger sisters are fun. They look up to him in a way that’s different from the way fans do. Or the Freshmen.

He shudders just thinking about them. They’re atrocious, Neil’s been whipping them into shape. _Hard_.

It’s towards the end of his week long excursion that Kevin’s hands start itching to get their grip on a racquet. It’s Dalton that notices it, but Bella’s the one who peeks around the corner when he’s emailing stats back and forth with Wymack. She wants Kevin to like her- which he _does_ , but he’s also not the easiest to read.

“Hey, um, my racquet needs to be re-laced, so I was gonna go to Exites if you wanna come?”

The word Exites gets him up, but he knows better than to let her pay money to have someone else do it. He knows how to do it, he has the time to spare. “I can just do it, I like doing my own when… ” His voice trails off as he follows her to the kitchen where he sees the racquet leaning against the wall.

He doesn’t know what happened to her poor racquet, and he _knows_ that she only plays for fun, but _Jesus_ , that thing needs more than just re-lacing. She needs new roping. Maybe a new racquet all together.

He drives them to Exites, lets her choose the music and hums along when he knows the words. She listens to a lot of Harry Styles, which isn’t bad, but also not something he knows very well. As soon as they walk in the store it goes the same as every other trip he takes to an Exy store. The first sales associate to see him does a wild double take, and rushes to his side. “She needs a new rope for a striker stick.”

Bella interrupts. “I play backliner, actually.”

 _What?_ He gives her a look. “Bella. This is a striker stick. Backliners use heavies- have you been playing backliner with this the whole time?” She shrugs. Oh god. He takes a breath and takes the stick back from the associate. “Are your racquets upstairs?”

He leads the way up, he doesn’t need an employee helping him with his choices, and drags his hand across the rows of sticks until they get to the rows of heavies. “Do you care what kind?” She shakes her head. He grabs three sticks for her height and opens the door to the practice court. He grabs one for himself, too. Just for fun.

“Wicked,” she whispers. He doesn’t think he’s supposed to hear it.

Kevin fires a few shots at the goal, doesn’t notice the awe in her eyes, and then has her do the same. “I don’t really know the difference, but this one is easier to handle, I think.”

“You throw further with it, too.” She grins.

Kevin buys new rope for the old racquet and buys Bella a new one. She tries to bargain to let her pay at least, half, but it’s inexpensive especially compared to what he’s _ever_ gotten for himself. He’s not stupid enough to spend too much money on a fancy stick that she doesn’t need. Just something sturdy.

Dalton looks at them like they both have three heads when they get back to the house. He follows Kevin to the kitchen table where he starts re-lacing the striker stick. “Where did you go?”

Bella’s grin hasn’t faded the entire time. “Exites. I’ll set up a goal out back.” She runs upstairs to change, Kevin assumes.

Dalton’s amused. “She got a new stick?”

Kevin shrugs. He’s focused on what he’s doing, but he casts an innocent glance up at his boyfriend. “Christmas present?”

“Kev! You didn’t-”

“I got cones!” Bella swings past them into the backyard. 

“Duty calls, D.”

Kevin knows what he’s working with, but the level of _easy_ he goes on her is ridiculous. She plays defense and goalie with two cones up against the fence. He nails the first ten without even trying, and levels it down while also moving back as far as he can to give her more advantage.

Anne’s watching from the window. “She _knows_ he’s going easy on her, right?”

“If she doesn’t then she needs to see a doctor.”

Carmen jokes about what he’s going to get _her_ next. Dalton snorts. “Eh, your time will come when you meet Allison.” She doesn’t know what he means by it, but the grin on his face is promising.

Bella is sweating when she comes inside first, sweating even though it’s cold outside. She watches Kevin set up cones in random places in the yard to run the Raven’s cone drill twice through before following her inside. His cheeks are red and cold when he changes in Dalton’s room. “Needed that?” Dalton smooths his thumb over his lip. 

Kevin nods and catches Dalton by the hips. “Very much,” he says and kisses him.

Dalton scrunches his nose, like the devil he is. “Was it stressful playing with her?”

“Oh _god_.” He groans and drops his head to Dalton’s shoulder. “So bad, D.”

* * *

The day before he leaves it snows like he’s never seen before. He’s glued to the window next to the couch all morning. Just watching. “It’s like a blizzard out there.”

“Dude, you used to live in West Virginia. You’ve definitely seen better.”

“Hey.” He frowns. “I’m not _dude_ to you.” Dalton rolls his eyes and sits behind him. “We weren’t allowed out in the snow, though. Ice was a liability. Plus, no windows in the nest.”

Dalton’s face falls. _Well now I feel like a dick._ Kevin squirms when he shoves his face in his neck. “Wanna play in the snow with me?”

Kevin turns. “Are you being serious or joking?”

“Serious, unless you don’t want to.”

Dalton hasn’t owned snow pants since he was ten, but he has enough sweatpants and hoodies that they double layer. He shoves a PSU beanie on Kevin’s head and a scarf nearly wrapped around his whole head. He sneaks a picture of the getup and posts it on Snapchat.

Kevin becomes very dedicated to making a snowman real fast, and throws the fattest snowball at Dalton’s back. It starts a very engaging snowball fight that neither of them want to lose. Which then turns into trying to shovel snow down each other’s hoodies. Which then turns into a near wrestling match.

Dalton wraps himself around Kevin, who trips back right onto his snowman. He gasps and rolls to the side. “ _Frosty_.”

Dalton laughs. He pushes Kevin down onto his back. His hat fell off god knows when. His hair is dark and contrasts against the snow. He has snowflakes on his eyelashes. Dalton’s breath fogs up the vision. “You look pretty,” he pants.

He pulls Dalton down to kiss him. His fingers curl in his hair, and he nuzzles his nose against his cheek. “You’re really warm.”

Dalton’s lips are cold against his cheeks when he kisses them. It makes Kevin blush even more than he was before.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dalton snoops, and unexpected guests come to dinner.

Andrew picks Kevin up from the airport, and the first thing he notices is the New Years temporary tattoo still stuck to his hand and a small fading hickey on his collarbone when his seatbelt tugs on his hoodie. “How rude of you to fuck in his mother’s house.”

Kevin gags and coughs on his water. _Jesus._ “Christ, Andrew,” he huffs. The problem is that he’s not… wrong. There’s no use in denying it, though. Not to Andrew. “It was _New Years_.” He tries defending himself. Again, no use. He knows he’s right, anyhow. This past year was both the worst and best year of his life, what with everything that happened last spring and then meeting Dalton in the fall. He deserved to celebrate a new year. “Don’t act like you and Neil didn’t hook up.”

But Andrew drowns his voice out by turning up the music to a painful volume.

Kevin collapses onto his bed as soon as they get back. He doesn’t know how long he sleeps, hours, he hopes. When he wakes up it’s to Neil shuffling around the room. He groans and pulls his covers up over his head. “Get up. We need to hit the court, you’ve been gone long enough.” He tosses a shoe at Kevin’s back.

Andrew leans against the door frame, arms crossed. “Still in bed and refusing to play Exy. One would have never though.”

“Yeah, well,” his voice is still groggy. “I’m still _recovering_.” He’s smirking to himself underneath his blanket. “You should know how that is.” _Please don’t kill me._

“You are disgusting,” Andrew mumbles, and turns to walk out. Neil stays, though, and throws the other shoe at Kevin. 

“You’re fine. Get up, now.”

“I’ll be up by noon.”

* * *

He knows he shouldn’t, not unless Kevin says it’s okay at least, but Dalton googles Kevin Day the day after he leaves Maryland.

It’s full of more recent articles, him coming out as bisexual for the most part. Further down, a few controversial opinions on what they think happened between him and the Raven’s. It’s not _bad_. Even if it were, he loves Kevin. Kevin loves _him_ , too. He’d just told him this week to prove it.

The top result is a Buzzfeed article titled **_“Kevin Day had a near photoshoot with fans in Times Square, and we’re all jealous”_**.

Dalton refines his search. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for, but he specifies it to last year's season. His first year stepping onto the Foxhole Court as a player.

First is an interview with Kathy Ferdinand, Neil, and Riko Moriyama. Dalton almost skips over it. He knows enough about Riko Moriyama, seeing his name makes his blood boil.

It’s strange watching it. The Kevin in the video is so different than the one he has now, not to mention that he doesn’t even recognize that the brunette in the clickbait is Neil until he watches him get introduced to the stage. He _knows_ about Neil’s troubled past. No specifics, of course, but enough. He grew up in Maryland, after all. He paid attention to the news in high school.

Kevin’s talked about Neil and his attitude, and Dalton’s gotten to see it on his own occasions, but this? This is another level. The only reason he doesn’t laugh at Neil tearing Riko to shreds is because behind it all he can see how traumatized Kevin looks. If he hadn’t known him, he wouldn’t have noticed, but Dalton _knows_ his body language. He sees the tense set in his shoulders and the twitch in his nose and the look on his face when he’s trying to prevent a panic attack from coming on.

Seeing him sitting directly across from his abuser makes him want to wrap his arms around Kevin and keep him safe. He doesn’t care that it was a year ago. _God, he wishes he were back at Palmetto already._

Dalton runs his hands over his face and replays Neil’s words. 

_“I don’t think you’re telling Kevin to sit out because of his health. I think you know this season is going to be a disaster for your reputation. You and Kevin have always played in each other’s shadows. You’ve always been a pair. Now you have to face each other on the court as rivals for the first time, and people are finally going to know which one of you is better. They’re going to know how premature this was.”_ Neil touches his cheek. _“I think you’re scared.”_

Dalton clicks out of the video. _That was not easy to watch._

He needs something without Riko. Something fun. He _should_ stop, he feels kind of guilty, but he can’t help it. He’s down the rabbit hole.

He finds some good press duty clips, but falls onto one titled **_every time kevin day yells to neil josten in french._ ** Or **_29 times Andrew Minyard comes up behind Kevin Day but just stares into the camera._ **

**_Kevin Day being approached by fans._ **

**_Kevin Day and Riko Moriyama speaking Japanese!_ **

He gladly skips that one.

A twenty-eight minute long video of- **_Compilation of Neil Josten being a pain in Kevin Day’s ass._**

**_Kevin Day looking stressed every time Neil speaks._ **

**_Kevin yelling Neil’s name, except every time he does the video speeds up._ **

**_Kevin Day’s victory fist pumps._ **

**_I ran into kevin day every time I went to edens nightclub in one semester & had the same conversation about how to say croissant every time._ **

Oh?

There’s a video for each time, some with the phone camera unknowingly recording Kevin, some with the view of their chins from below, and some of the floor with just their voices. It’s very evident that Kevin’s drunk in every video, he doesn’t seem to remember her in any of them. At the end, there’s seven pictures of them, all with the same pose and all from different nights.

Drunk Kevin is funny, he’ll say that. Dalton almost catches himself thinking he wishes he could see it, but he pinches himself for it. He’s proud of Kevin for being sober- _so_ proud. His sobriety is still a work in progress, and he knows how important it is.

Anyway.

**_Speaking Japanese with Kevin Day at the mall: AWKWARD._ **

This one is from this past summer with subtitles at the bottom. The girl goes up to him, and he doesn’t seem to see her coming until she’s in front of him. _“Oh, hello,”_ he says. It’s when she continues to ask how his day is in Japanese that he makes the switch.

_“Do you speak English?”_

_“Yes, I just knew you spoke Japanese, sorry”_

_“Oh… it’s okay, uh, do you mind not recording me?”_ She lowers her phone a little. _“It’s still recording.”_

_“It’s not, anymore.”_

Dalton recognizes Andrew’s little whistle calling him over. _“Okay, well, I've got to go. Um, bye.”_

Dalton isn’t very fond of Kevin’s “fans”. Not that one, at least. Not the ones from New York, either.

He moves on to Kevin roasting interviewers. It’s glorious.

_“Kevin, why don’t you smile for us!”_

_“Smiling won’t make a difference in any of my answers. Next question.”_

_“You came out, just this week, to be dating a man. Any change in positions, if you know what I mean?”_ She laughs.

Kevin only leans back, catching Matt's eye. _“What an embarrassing question. That will be all. Matt, let’s go.”_

Next:

_“I’m sorry about the death of Riko Moriyama, by the way. To have someone of a brother go in such a way must have been hard for you, yes?”_

_“Well, good thing we were never brothers.”_ He adds on. _“I don’t appreciate you actively trying to get a reaction out of me. I think we’re done here? Yes?”_

Ugh. Next: 

_“Now that he’s off his drugs, is Andrew Minyard a threat to the team?”_

_“Why would you think that?”_

_“Well, we all know his timeline, his history”_

_“Time is a social construct. I'll go find Andrew to take my spot, if we’re not going to focus on the game.”_

Eh. Next: 

_“Surely you guys must get plenty of girls drooling over you, with what such an intense workout regimen does!”_

Kevin grimaces and raises an eyebrow. _“Girls aren’t animals. Educate yourself, please.”_

Dalton sends that one to Carmen before giving it a rest.

**_Carmen: IENDJDJD_ **

**_Carmen: A FEMINIST_ **

* * *

Later that night, he lingers in Bella’s doorway until she looks up and shakes her head. “I can’t read your mind, what do you want?”

He steps into her room, small and comfortably crowded, and takes his spot sitting on her desk. “So, Kevin’s _famous_ famous.”

“You’re an idiot.”

He leans his head back against the wall. “I just don’t know how I didn’t see it before. He _told_ me that he’s famous in the sports world, but I didn’t think much of it cause it’s a sport.” He feels bad just saying it. He values Exy, he _knows_ how important it is to Kevin. _Does he come off as not caring?_ Now he’s overthinking.

That’s enough to get Bella to look up from her laptop for real. She looks disappointed. “He was being _modest_ , Dalton, he’s _literally_ an A-list celebrity!” She cuts him off before he can defend himself. “ _You’re_ the idiot for not knowing who _Kevin Day_ is. I don’t watch or pay attention to soccer, but I still recognize David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo.”

Dalton tosses the hairbrush from her desk at her. “This isn’t about my lack of sports knowledge.”

“It should be, let’s be-“

“Okay, but can we not?”

Bella gives him a look. “Okay, look. You didn’t know who Kevin was when you met him, therefore not knowing how famous he is. You’re fine, I swear.” Dalton nods, but he still runs his hands down his face.

He tries to make up for it when he gets back to school. He waits outside the stadium, leaned against the hood of his car, and grins when he sees Kevin file out amongst the others. He’s talking to Allison at his side, but looks forward when she nods in Dalton’s direction.

Kevin smiles, a real smile. It lights up his whole face, and makes Dalton want to scrunch his nose. _He chose a good one._ Allison claps Kevin’s shoulder. “Talk later,” he says and jogs ahead of the others. 

“That’s cute as fuck.” Allison nudges Andrew’s shoulder.

“Do not touch me.”

Kevin wraps his arms around Dalton when he reaches him. “This is a surprise.” He doesn’t even try to hide his smile. _Dalton’s back in Palmetto._

Dalton gives him a squeeze. “Nice one, right?” He kisses the side of Kevin’s head, and then pulls him back to kiss him for real. It’s not a very successful kiss, per say, what with the both of them continuously smiling into it, but neither of them care. Dalton is just happy to be exactly where he is, kissing the boy that he loves. _How is it possible to feel this strongly for someone?_

Kevin twists his hands in Dalton’s pockets and bites his lip. “I thought you were coming back tomorrow?”

“I was.” He shrugs. “I didn’t feel like waiting.”

“Did Jenna end up driving back with you?”

Dalton kisses him and hums. “ _With_ is a choice word. She took something to knock her out the whole time- she gets car sick.” Kevin grimaces. “Do you want me to drop you off at the dorms or come to mine?”

They’ve got three whole days of absolutely nothing until Exy and school start back up, and there’s very few ways that Kevin wants to put those days to use. Dalton is a constant in all of them, though. “Yours? I wouldn’t mind getting to-”

“Dalton!” Matt shouts as he comes out of the stadium with Nicky and Dan. He runs across the lot and jumps on Dalton- Kevin’s the only one that’s not surprised by the strength he must have to catch someone as tall and large as Matthew Boyd. It’s hot, really. “Where the hell you been, loca?”

“ _Don’t_ quote Twilight to me, I hate you.” Dalton drops him and fondly rolls his eyes when Matt starts laughing. Kevin doesn’t understand their friendship, most of it is spoken through laughter and words that don’t make sense- and he _always_ has to be the one to pull them away from one another. If he doesn’t he and Dan would _both_ lose their men. They’re almost like children.

Nicky stops next to Kevin and sighs. “I’ve told you that I love him, right?”

“Back off, Nicky.”

* * *

The first day of _official_ practice, Wymack pulls Kevin aside before he can leave. “I just wanted to check that things went well over break,” he says.

Kevin shrugs. “Sure, Andrew stole Neil away from the court most of the time I was home, but we tried out this new drill he and Dan are going to try out next week.”

Wymack frowns. “Does your brain ever process anything other than Exy?” Kevin tilts his head. What is he supposed to say? The _real_ answer is no, probably. “I was talking about Maryland.”

“Oh.” Kevin crosses his arms. “Sure, yeah. It was fine, whatever.”

 _Liar._ “You’re allowed to say it was good. I know your tell.” Kevin stiffens. He has a tell? “You say _whatever_ when you’re lying about how you feel about something, genius.”

“Is it noticeable? How did you know? Do I do it a lot?”

“No, because I’m your coach and father, and no. Calm yourself, kid.”

Kevin nods, uncrosses his arms, and then crosses them again. He doesn’t know how he’s supposed to talk about his and Dalton’s relationship. _Is_ he supposed to? The only person that knows details is Betsy, and _that’s_ for obvious reasons. “It was really good. His parents are nice, and his sisters. I told his dad about my past.” _Fuck._ He cringes. Why did he say that? “Not-not the Moriyama’s, just… he asked if I’m close with my family, and I didn’t want to say _it’s complicated_ and have him not like me. It’s D’s _dad_ , you know? If-”

Wymack grabs his shoulders. “I’m not _judging_ you, Kevin.” He drops his hands once Kevin nods. “I’m glad it went good, then.” He pauses. “Look, I wanted to invite the both of you to swing by for dinner, or something, if you want. If you don’t that's fine with me, I just… thought I’d offer. Abby would be there, and you could invite the others, if it would make you more comfortable.”

This… is _not_ what Kevin was expecting. He stutters for a second. “Okay… Yeah, I’d like that. Thank you.”

Wymack nods, and heads back down to his office.

Kevin sprints out to Andrew’s car. “You are lucky I did not leave without you.”

Kevin waves his hand in favor of scouring his pockets for his phone.

**_Kevin: my father asked if we wanted to have dinner w him n abby n maybe some of the others, thoughts??_ **

**_Dalton: absolutely! that would be fun for sure_ **

**_Kevin: ok cool, i will let him know_ **

Kevin stuffs his phone into his pocket and leans his head back. Why is he more nervous now? Dalton and Wymack hit it off last time, Kevin _knows_ that he likes Dalton. He shouldn’t be worried in the slightest.

* * *

Okay. He’s worried. He’s very worried. It’s not that he thinks things will go wrong, because if need be he’s aced the skill of getting Wymack to go on an Exy rant with him, but what if that’s not enough?

It’s why he invited Matt and Dan. Matt and Dalton are friends as is, and Matt is the epitome of a puppy dog. There’s nothing that could go wrong with him there.

Kevin steps out of Dalton’s car and waits for a moment on the front steps.

Dalton comes up behind him with a hand on his back. “You good?”

Is he? He nods. “Yup.” He pulls the door open.

“I’m excited, I like Wymack, he…” Dalton’s voice trails off as they step inside. Nicky can oh so clearly be heard over the other voices- voices that _hadn’t_ been invited. What has this turned into?

“What the fuck,” Kevin whispers.

“It’s fine, Kev. It’s like a family Thanksgiving in January-”

Kevin presses a hand to Dalton’s chest to stop him. “Don’t say that when we get in there.” He pushes a stray curl from Dalton’s forehead. “Bad things happened on Thanksgiving last year. Not this past one, but- it’s, you know what, it’s not relevant right now. You’ve made it this far, I can explain later. Just- no Thanksgiving.” He kisses Dalton once, tugging on his jacket. “I love you,” he breathes and turns. His chest tightens as he says it. Is saying that ever going to get old? He hopes not.

“I love you, too.” Dalton grabs onto Kevin’s hand before he gets far and jumps back into step with him. He only breaks apart to greet Wymack in the kitchen.

Kevin makes way for Dan. “The fuck happened?” He pulls her aside. “I thought it was only supposed to be us?” 

She cringes. “Matt was talking about dinner at Coach’s a bit too loud and Nicky overheard, who told the monsters, and Neil told Allison who told Renee. Honestly if Renee knew about it first she would’ve stopped them all from coming, but she didn’t know it was more of a boyfriend slash dad meet and greet.” She purses her lips and cowers. “My condolences?”

Kevin rubs his face. “I- it’s fine. Just,” he grunts. _Why is this happening?_ “Don’t be weird. He’s met everyone before.”

Kevin zips off to go find Dalton again, talking with Abby. When he joins them at Dalton’s side, he wraps an arm lazily around Kevin’s waist. “Did you know Abby used to teach?”

Kevin frowns. “I didn’t, no. Since when?”

Abby shrugs. “Back way before I even met _David_. Not my thing- oh _shit_ , hold on, sorry.” She pats Dalton’s arm on her way to the kitchen, where something is beeping over the noise of everyone else.

Dalton turns and catches Kevin by the waist. “Guess what went wrong already?”

Kevin’s stomach drops. “ _What,_ ” he mumbles.

“ _Nothing_. Really, Kev. Just think of it as the banquet with fewer people.”

“I was a nervous wreck at the banquet.” Dalton frowns. “Yeah, okay, fine. I’m just annoyed that it turned into a whole _dinner party_.” Dalton takes hold of his hand before he can wave it towards the group; he brings it to his lips and quickly kisses his knuckles.

“We’ll reschedule, okay?” Kevin nods. “Good- hey.” He pulls him back once more. “Love you?”

Kevin quirks a smile. He kisses Dalton’s cheek. “I love you, too.”

“What the _fuck?!”_ Dalton jumps and turns with a hand over his heart. Nicky backs back into the hall, a devilish grin on his face. “Guys, I think Kevin was replaced with a doppleganger, he just said _I_ _love you_ to someone!” He stops in the doorway. Matt fist pumps and runs off to go find Dalton. Neil looks like he doesn’t care, because he really doesn’t. Aaron silently passes a small wad of cash to Andrew, who sits without a glimpse of a reaction. Allison throws her head back and throws a few cash of her own Andrew’s way. Dan pouts.

“Remind me to pay you after practice.”

Nicky’s jaw is an inch from the floor. “ _Really?_ You guys didn’t include me in on this?”

Dan winces. “To be fair, Nicky, we knew you’d aim too early, and Neil said he knew you’d bet way too much on it.”

He looks at Neil. “You spent almost one hundred dollars on a pair of sunglasses.”

“You bought Andrew a _Maserati!_ ”

Neil shrugs. “Potato tomato.”

Andrew flicks his shoulder. “That’s wrong,” he mumbles. Neil frowns, and engages in Russian. The others veer away. It’s not worth trying to figure out what they’re saying.

* * *

Dinner lasts longer than normal once everyone realizes there’s more alcohol in the fridge. Far enough into the kitchen raid, Wymack joins Dalton outside. Dalton looks up as he sits down. “Sorry, I’ll be right back in, I-”

“You’re fine, kid.” 

Dalton huffs a laugh. “I’m used to loud families, I just…”

“The Foxes are crazy idiots?”

That one _does_ make Dalton laugh for real. He shrugs. “ _No,_ I don’t know- I mean, Andrew warned me, already, back at the banquet. I’m not scared of them, I think I just want to make sure they actually approve of me… I guess.”

Wymack is rubbing his chin as soon as Andrew’s name gets thrown out, and he purses his lips. “So long as Andrew’s warning wasn’t a chokehold, I’d say he approves, at least.”

“Eh, nothing I wouldn’t have said to my sister's boyfriends,” he lies. “Just more intense and more knives-”

“ _What?_ ”

Dalton’s hand flies to Wymack’s arm. He shakes his head. “No, no! It was fine! Sorry, I swear. I’m stronger than him, anyway. One push and he gave up, I swear.”

Wymack opens his mouth, closes it, puts his hand over his face, and then takes a big breath. _There’s no way Dalton’s stronger than Andrew._ He drops his hand. _Which means Andrew let him defend himself. Right?_

“Fine. Jesus, I’ll kill that idiot,” Wymack huffs. “I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s happened more than you’d think.”

“I’ve heard.”

Wymack nods, and sets his beer at his feet. They sit in silence for a while, enough for Wymack to build up his courage again. It’s not normally a challenge. He looks up to the sky. The stars are bright, tonight. “You know,” he starts, and licks his lips. He’s nervous. “If Kevin’s mother were still here, I think she would’ve been proud of him… For bringing you home.”

Dalton freezes, his head ducked. As if the words themselves weren’t enough, the way Wymack uttered it, almost at a whisper, doesn’t help. It only goes to show just how much more he meant it.

Dalton purses his lips. He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment. “I…” He takes a breath. “I couldn’t imagine not having my mom in my life.” He looks up. “He’s lucky to have you. As his father, and just.” He shrugs a shoulder. “In general. They all are.” He looks back out ahead of him. It’s so quiet. “ _Thank_ you.”

Wymack nods. “What I offer them extends to you. So long as you don’t break my kid’s heart.” It’s not something he ever thought he’d have to say, or _do._ Give the dad speech. Not for his _own_ kid, at least. He imagined he’d be giving Matt that talk if he ever proposed to Dan.

Dalton smiles to himself. “I wouldn’t dream of it, I promise.”

Wymack stands and offers Dalton a hand. He gives it a squeeze once he’s got him on his feet. “You ever need anything, don’t be a stranger.” Dalton nods. “Also, feel free to call me David.” As if seeing the surprise on Dalton’s face, he shrugs. “What? I like having fun. It’ll drive the rest of ‘em nuts.”

As if on cue, Kevin steps outside. He doesn’t let it show that he saw the interaction, and nods at his boyfriend. “Wanna head out? It’s getting late.”

Wymack can read his stance. The others are getting drunk, and Kevin doesn’t want to be around it. He claps Dalton’s shoulder and then Kevin’s on his way to the door. “Don’t bother saying goodbyes, you’ll never make it back out. I’ll see you both later.”

“Thank you for dinner, David.” He grins after Wymack’s back is turned, and even more at the look on Kevin’s face. “What? We’re tight, now.”

Kevin huffs a laugh and steps into Dalton’s space to kiss him. He slides both hands to his face. “You’re impossible.”

* * *

Kevin gets on Dalton’s laptop once they’re back at his apartment, but his fingers twitch over the keys when he sees the tab open. He waits for Dalton to run and jump on the bed, and turns the screen towards him. “How much have you seen?”

Dalton gathers the comforter in his fist. _Did he fuck up?_ His stomach is at his feet. “I…” he stammers. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have dug-”

Kevin closes the laptop. “I’m not mad. It’s not like any of it’s a secret.”

But he wishes it were private, at least. Kevin’s not _that_ hard to read. He sits up and pulls Kevin’s hand into his lap. “Still… It wasn’t a trust thing, you _know_ I trust you. I was just _curious_ , after New York.” Kevin nods.

“How much did you see?”

He shrugs. “A lot, but nothing bad, obviously. Press interviews, mainly. Funny Youtube videos… Um, and Kathy Ferdinand.” Kevin’s hand on Dalton’s knee tightens, just for a split second. Almost like a twitch. “And the croissants,” he whispers.

“Jesus Christ,” Kevin groans and rolls over onto his stomach. There’s a moment that Dalton regrets using _that_ to lighten the mood, but then Kevin’s getting up with a rescued smile. He grabs a towel off the back of the door and heads for the bathroom. “It’s pronounced _croissant!”_


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dalton wants to impress Kevin the only way he knows how.

Dalton’s nervous, he realizes. He’s been here before, the Foxhole Court. He’s watched Kevin and Neil and the whole lot of them play for what feels like an endless amount of time, now. But he’s been finally doing his research on the account of Kevin’s friends, Jean Moreau and Jeremy Knox, coming to their first game of the playoffs. He doesn’t really know how they found the time to come down. The Foxes have been at the court non-stop this week and as far as Dalton knows, the Trojans are in the playoffs, too.

His phone feels like a weight in his pocket, his cheat sheets in his notes and a short but useful list of things to make him sound smart in his messages with Andrew. He’d asked him two weeks ago how he’s able to study things so quickly, how he can remember things so  _ well _ .

Andrew had lowered his book and looked up at him, almost painfully slow. “You did fine before with your meagre knowledge of stickball. Why the sudden interest?”

Dalton had frowned, because he never said anything about Exy, or sports, even. Did he leave his laptop open in their room? Did Kevin notice and tell him?

“I didn’t say what I’m studying.”

“No,” Andrew said, and closed his book. “You were whispering terms to yourself. You want to sound knowledgeable when Kevin’s acquaintances come to Palmetto. No use, they are all incompetent.” He’d ignored the look Dalton shot at him. “I will tell you the useful things to know.”

Dalton had opened his mouth to thank him, or ask him when he was free, but then Andrew had started talking and listing off what’s important for him to know. He’d nearly cleared Kevin’s whole desk trying to grab for a piece of paper and pen. All he found was a purple marker, but it did the job.

The day he’d come back to the suite from their first practice of the month, he’d shoved the round one lineup at Dalton’s chest. He’d looked it over for a week in between classes.

Now, he leads both Jeremy Knox and Jean Moreau to Kevin’s reserved seats. His palms are sweaty, and it’s not from South Carolina’s rainy humidity. He’s met both of these guys before, nearly two months ago. There’s no reason he should be nervous beyond Jean’s intense stares.

“So, how’d you guys find the time to fly out? I feel like Kevin’s been at the court 24/7 this week.”

Jeremy sticks a fox paw sticker onto his shirt. “Our bracket plays on Saturday’s this year, we’re  _ technically _ here to watch for strategy, but I’m here to have fun. If you won’t tell I won’t, either.” He nudges Dalton’s arm and grins.

The Foxes game against the Jackals is tooth and nail. Gorilla, as Jean calls him, is on the court and looks like a giant compared to Kevin. Better him than Neil, though. It only takes ten minutes for the first fight to break out. Neil’s mark says something to Kevin as he passes, and Kevin stops just slow enough to respond. Whatever it is, it has the Jackal taking a swing. He nails Kevin along his helmet, which doesn’t do anything but make Kevin shove him back and point a finger at him. Neil shoves both of them away from one another as a referee comes up to give the Jackal a red card. Neil points an angry finger at Kevin and takes his position.

The next time, is when Kevin gets trapped between Gorilla and the wall right in front of Dalton and the two Trojans. It’s enough to make him stumble, but the second he makes eye contact with Dalton he bangs the plexiglass and pushes off to gain on Gorilla. He ducks under him and catches his stick by surprise to pop it out of his hands. He loses the ball for all of two seconds to Neil, and then nails it in the corner of the goal.

“Yes!” Jeremy pumps a fist in the air and wraps the other arm around Dalton’s neck in victory.

From then on, Gorilla almost has a death wish for Kevin. He goes after him with every chance he gets, and at one point he gets so pissed that fans close enough can hear him scream “get him off!” as he runs by.

Last year, that was Matt’s moment. This year, freshman Charlie Milasky answers the call. Six foot and five inches, he stands taller than Matt with thighs of steel. He’s an absolute puppy dog like Matt and Dalton, but he looks like a bulldozer.

And he can get away with anything. He’s not the pathological liar that Neil came off as, but he knows how to play people when needed. He gets _ that _ skill from acting- a hobby no one but Matt knows. It’s all how he was successful with pickpocketing as a squatter in high school.

Charlie runs over and tries blocking Gorilla from Kevin, and in a strange twirl he “trips” and falls into Gorilla hard enough to knock him off his feet. Kevin goes off running, and as Charlie rolls away from Gorilla he looks down at his shoe, suddenly untied.

“Dude, I’ve  _ got  _ to start tying these tighter,” he says just as a referee wheels around. Sending Gorilla to the ground when he wasn’t in possession of the ball should result in a yellow card, or even red, but Charlie gestures to his shoe as he ties it and talks, and Gorilla throws his hands up from the ground when the referee backs off the court without giving Charlie anything.

“How did… Are they stupid? They can’t fall for that!” Jean is in disbelief over how the hell that just worked, but Jeremy pats his back.

“That’s impressive, knowing Gorilla’s past. He hasn’t been knocked down that easy all season,” Dalton comments, easy and breezy as if it's nothing. It’s  _ not  _ nothing, he’s clearly trying to sound like he knows what he’s talking about. He just hopes it doesn’t come off too strong.

As soon as the teams file off the court after the game, Kevin makes his way over. He’s triumphant in their win, and leans up to hug Dalton. “Thoughts?” He leans his elbows on the rail.

“Milasky’s hella strong, for one thing. Where’d you get him from, Russia?” Kevin shrugs at Jeremy’s joke.

Jean speaks up in French. “Your boyfriend was clueless about Exy at the banquet. Now, he’s quick.” Kevin smiles and side eyes his boyfriend. “Someone’s been doing his homework.”

He and Jean will never be close, or amicable again, Kevin doesn’t think, but he trusts his word enough to know when he’s lying or not. And he  _ knows  _ Dalton normally has no idea how Exy works. He just isn’t expecting Jean to throw that on him. “He’s been catching up,” he lies.  _ Topic for another time? _

Jeremy and Jean come out for drinks with the rest of the Foxes and Vixens after the game. Two of the Vixen girls are hosting at their small house tucked behind the stadium. Kevin drives anyway, Matt lets him pile everyone in his truck since he’s the only that won’t be drinking.

Dalton pops open the bed of the truck and helps Allison and Renee down. Matt takes his hand dramatically and hops down. “Thank you so much, dearie.”

Dalton rolls his eyes.

Kevin’s behind him, and once everyone’s on their way up to the house he catches Dalton with his hands on either side of the truck. He leans in close. “I’m sorry, sugar, but are you on the  _ Exy _ team?”

Oh? Dalton bites his lip. He loves when Kevin gets flirty.

He pinches the jersey he’s wearing, Kevin’s jersey, and shrugs. “Oh, this old thing? Just something I found. I don’t even know who Day is.” He leans his head back, gives Kevin a hooded stare.

_ God save him.  _ Kevin curls his fingers in the jersey and pulls Dalton down. “Like to find out?” Dalton hums, cheeky and smirking, and sinks back against the car when Kevin kisses him. He likes his height, sure, but he’s never opposed to Kevin leaning over him instead.

He wraps his arms around Kevin’s neck and digs his hand in his hair. It’s chilly this time of year, and the cold bites at Dalton’s skin. It kisses his lips when Kevin’s not.

“This isn’t the outside of a _ frat house _ , guys.” Katelyn comes up the driveway with her friend, winking at them and grinning as she pulls the girl along.

Dalton turns his head into Kevin’s chest and lifts his head when he hears the front door open and close. He looks up at Kevin and tugs on the strings of his hoodie. “Should we go save the Trojan twins?” He slips out from against the truck, and starts up the driveway.

Kevin watches him walk, just for a moment, and at the last second pulls him back by the hand and kisses him just  _ one  _ more time. “Thanks for dealing with them. I love you.”

“ _ Damn!  _ Who are you and what did you do with that cold hearted bitch I know!” Nicky walks backwards past them, tracing a heart in the air with his fingers and fanning his face as he turns back around to jog up the steps.

Kevin glares at the back of Nicky’s head. Dalton kisses his neck, just once. “Love you too.” He chirps and pulls him by the hand.

* * *

Kevin forgot all about what Jean had said until he’s searching for his sneaker in Dalton’s living room. Lost underneath the sofa, he finds a crumpled piece of paper. Dusty and ripped halfway down the middle. It’s not the first time he’s found absurd things under the sofa, it’s the go-to spot. It’s where Lily likes to shove things if given the chance. Kevin lost one of his flip flops under there for a month.

Lily trots over and licks at Kevin’s face. He leans away, absently petting her to calm her down. He unravels the paper with one hand and blows off the thin sheet of dust. A cheat sheet.

Dalton doesn’t cheat, he won’t even cheat on things that aren’t being graded, now that he’s in grad school. Kevin  _ knows  _ this. But this isn’t for class.

It’s for Exy.

The basic rules on the left and circles and lines drawn with intent around important things like how penalty shots are earned, or how offsides and restarts work. A small rectangle is at the top with the court lines and titles scribbled through them. An  _ X _ is marked through  _ second-court  _ and _ far-court _ is written right above it instead. Underneath the mini court,  _ body checks  _ and  _ stick checks  _ have arrows pointing them to a few small bullet points telling when they’re allowed. Along the bottom in all caps,  _ “CAN ONLY CARRY BALL FOR 10 STEPS!!!” _

Kevin chews on his lip. Not hard, but hard enough that eventually he tastes something metallic in his mouth. He swipes his tongue over the small bead of blood on his bottom lip.  _ Jean was right. _

He folds the paper as he stands. He doesn’t know what to do with it. Whether or not he asks Dalton about it, because really there’s no reason why he needs to. He’s  _ glad  _ that he wants to understand Exy for real, he just doesn’t know why it seemed like a secret.

He tucks it into his pocket. He needs to leave for class.

Once again, he forgets about it until just before dinner, when he sticks his hands in his pocket to pull out his wallet, and out comes the crinkled paper instead. He pays for Dalton’s bottle of wine, for Abby, and pulls out the paper as they leave. “Hey, how come you didn’t tell me you were learning about Exy?”

Dalton quirks a brow, but as he takes the paper he realizes what it is. He almost looks embarrassed. “I wanted to impress your friends… And you,” he says. “Kinda felt like an idiot when I realized how little I actually know.”

Kevin shrugs. “I’m bad at math.”

Dalton shoves his shoulder, but he’s smiling. All is good, then. “It wasn’t a big gesture or anything, I just thought I should understand it- I would’ve asked you if I had any questions, but Andrew caught me looking up the rules or whatever and gave me a mini lesson on the spot.”

Kevin scoffs. “There’s no way. He refuses to talk shop with us.” 

“He said you’d say that. Probably did it out of spite, at first, but then he gave me the notes on all the teams you guys are playing in round one, so I think he likes me.”

Kevin would typically say something about how those aren’t supposed to be shared outside the team, but it’s  _ Dalton _ . Who’s he going to share that kind of information with that isn’t the Foxes?

It’s Sunday, and also the day that he and Wymack had rescheduled for them to go over Abby’s- without the rest of the Foxes this time. Kevin’s not nervous this time around, after seeing for himself how comfortable his father and boyfriend seem around each other in the past week since the last dinner. As soon as they get there, he hands Abby the bottle of wine and joins Wymack on the sofa. It’s also Sunday night football.

Kevin hates it, but Dalton likes watching football. With the amount of Exy  _ he _ has to endure, Kevin knows he can’t complain about this one thing.

Plus, hearing them talk about football is better than what their last conversation was about, anyway. Something about a shopping center right off campus that’s being torn down to make into hotels. It was like hearing two forty-five year olds talk. Kevin hadn’t known how much more he could hear.

He and Abby come and join them halfway through. Just in time to hear the tail end of an Exy conversation. Dalton’s got his shoes off, sitting pretzel legged on the sofa with Wymack at his side, legs out and feet up on the coffee table. “I don’t care how many times I say it, I’ll never get how effortlessly they play the game. I’m tough, but the idea of being able slingshotting a ball a hundred yards makes my brain short circuit.”

“I mean, same with football. They’re throwing the ball that far, sometimes.” Wymack  _ actually  _ seems in thought.

Dalton shakes his head. “Nah, I don’t know, there’s something different about it.”

Wymack looks between Kevin and Dalton. “Bet you could get him to teach you, he’s incapable of turning down a trip to the court as it is.” Kevin rolls his eyes. “You’ve got the stature to be one hell of a backliner, in my opinion.”

He grins, but snorts a little. “You know, normally I just get asked if I play basketball, so I’m  _ flattered _ , David,” he laughs, and Kevin schools his quick confusion. He forgot that he told Dalton to call him David. He’ll never not be shocked.

* * *

Kevin’s alone watching tapes on Tulane when Dalton swings the bedroom door open and jumps on his bed with a pleading smile. He shuts Kevin’s laptop.

Kevin stammers. He’s  _ supposed _ to be writing an essay for class. He wasn’t, but he’s  _ supposed _ to be. “I was doing homework.”

Dalton gives him a look, one that tells him  _ I know better than that _ , and kisses his cheek. He pulls away just in front of his face.  _ So not buying it.  _ “You were looking at stats, babe.” Kevin frowns. “But  _ speaking _ of. We should go to the court. For fun. I can help! It’s playoffs, who doesn’t want extra practice?”

“You’re a bad liar, D,” he mumbles. He can feel Dalton’s breath on his lips as he huffs a laugh.

“I know, you’re right. Matt said if I could get you to come teach me how to play Exy that he’d join.”

“Right now?”

“Does ten minutes count as right now?”

“There’s really no difference.”

“Then yes, right now.”

Kevin  _ loves  _ Dalton’s newest love for Exy, and learning about it, but he’s not supposed to be doing night practices this early into playoffs yet. It’s only five, and it’s not really practice, but still. Wymack doesn’t care for the details. Betsy doesn’t think Kevin should be at the court for more hours of the day than not, regardless of the reason.

Dalton’s giving him a pout, though. He leans forward and kisses it. “Are you sure? I’ve been told I’m not a nice teacher.”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Dalton rolls off the bed and pulls Kevin up by the hands. “It’s… kinda hot, in my head.” Kevin raises a brow. “No comment.”

Matt lets him use one of his backups, since Dalton is closer to his height and learning to play backliner. To defend the goal against Kevin. It’s heavy. Heavier than he expected, for some reason.

Dalton is giddy as Kevin dresses him up in extra gear from the closet and pulls his practice jersey over his head. “I feel like a marshmallow in all this,” he laughs.

Kevin watches Dalton stand to full height after tying his shoes. He tilts his chin up. He may be incredibly biased by his love and dedication for the sport, but Dalton looks fine as hell in his practice jersey. He could’ve easily worn a t-shirt, but if Kevin has to suffer through teaching Dalton, who has never picked up a racquet before let alone played, then he gets to have his own fun.

He’s been on outer court before, that one time he brought Kevin to the court in December. When he told him about Riko and the Raven’s. It was different, then. Seeing Kevin play to numb something. Dalton assumes he’ll see a different side of him today. Maybe the lighter hearted side of Exy-Kevin, since he definitely doesn’t take it easy during games.

He’s wrong. So very wrong. Kevin teaching him how to play Exy  _ is _ hot, but it’s not easy. He’s _ not _ a nice teacher, though Dalton doesn’t think he can blame him for it. He _ was _ warned.

Matt is really just there to give pointers as a backliner and to have fun, but he secretly teaches Dalton his little trick on how he always manages to piss off his marks. He takes the butt of his stick and pushes their socks down before plays. It does no harm, but it never fails. 

Kevin teaches Dalton how to catch and throw, how to make sure he’s throwing as far as he can and as hard. He demonstrates on Matt how to pop the ball out of the opponents racquet. The only problem is that Matt can tell that he’s holding back. Sure, he’s never played Exy before, but he’s fast, he’s as strong as Kevin or Matt themselves, and he’s got a strong throw from playing baseball in high school.

He doesn’t want to hurt his boyfriend.

It takes three practice rounds of Kevin successfully and quite easily getting around them for Matt to nudge him as Kevin makes his way back to half court. “Dude. Kevin’s the best in the game, but don’t let him intimidate you.” Dalton tilts his head, just a bit. He’s seen him naked, after all.  _ And  _ caught him listening to Britney Spears on more than one occasion. He’s not intimidated. “Don’t run him over, but you don’t have to be afraid to knock into him, you know?

Still, he hesitates. “Think he’d dump me?”  _ I don’t want to hurt him. Am I even capable of that? _

Matt shrugs and shakes his head. “He’s tough as nails, he’ll be  _ fine _ .”

Dalton nods. Who is he kidding, he’s seen Kevin get knocked down by guys much larger than him. Kevin whistles with his fingers between his lips and motions for them to get into starting positions. Dalton barely makes it back to what he thinks is his spot before Kevin makes a break for it. Again, he hesitates until Kevin is a step away. He’s going to side step him like he has the last few times, so before he gets the chance Dalton rams into him and pops his racquet. Or, well, he hits Kevin’s stick with his own. His technique is nonexistent.

Kevin trips sideways over his feet from the angle that Dalton came at him with. Instead of running towards the opposite goal, or continuing the game, Dalton grabs Kevin by the sleeve and pulls him back so that he doesn’t fall. He guesses he  _ did  _ push him pretty hard.

Kevin’s breathing hard through his nose, lips pursed, as he looks up at Dalton.  _ What just happened? _ Dalton’s smiling at him, just faintly, and he huffs. “You’re a dick,” he says, and pops the ball out of Dalton’s racquet. The play doesn’t continue, but it doesn’t matter because Matt’s distracted by laughing anyway, and Dalton wouldn’t have kept going after that close call. He feels too bad about it even though Kevin wouldn’t have gotten hurt for real.

“Yo, he really got you, Kevin! How do you feel about  _ that!” _

Kevin glares at Matt, then turns and shoots a perfect goal.

Dalton follows him, hooking his helmet and racquet under his arm, and gently takes Kevin’s right hand. Slow enough that he sees it coming and doesn’t flinch at the touch. “You okay?”

Kevin nods and points between them with his racquet. He's a little turned on by Dalton potentially besting him, but that's between no one but themselves. “No one finds out about this.”

Dalton nods, grinning. “Can we go again?” Kevin raises a single brow. “Or we can just have a catch? You can teach me to throw better?”

Kevin tilts his chin up. “You said that last time and got annoyed at how I teach.”

Dalton shrugs. He bites his lip, and tilts Kevin’s helmet up just enough above his nose. “I’m aware,” he mumbles. “You are  _ not  _ a nice teacher.”

Kevin waits for Dalton’s lips to get within an atom's distance to press a hand to his chest and push him back. “Not on my court.” He turns to walk away from Dalton and the goal, but turns his head to talk over his shoulder. “Get on the line, Miller.”


End file.
